See, What Had Happened Was
by IsaQui
Summary: Everything was going alright. Fantastic, really. Up until I accidentally tripped Regulus Black... JamesxLily, RemusxOC, SiriusxOCxRegulus?
1. Fluorescent Adolescent

A/N: Hopefully this fic will be funny, complete with an equally comical playlist to go with it. Feel free to suggest any songs that you feel fit better with the chapter. It may seem a little bit slow at first, but it'll pick up. Georgie will make the worst mistake of her life sooner or later :)

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, nor do I own the songs I wish to accompany with the chapters.

_Fluorescent Adolescent_ by the Arctic Monkeys

I loved Professor McGonagall. Really, I did. She was no-nonsense, intelligent, mean, and slightly condescending. Kind of like my mother.

I'm sure she felt the same way about me. Professor McGonagall, not my mother, although it could work either way.

Anyways.

I loved Professor McGonagall because I loved Transfiguration, the subject she taught. The pure magic (ha) of it was amazing; with words I could turn a button into a beetle, and then back again. A statue into the real object it portrayed. Transfiguration was my favorite class, besides Defense Against the Dark Arts and Potions.

Sadly, I was not the only one who enjoyed the amazing subject. Lily Evans, a fellow Gryffindor and fifth year, seemed like she wanted to be the Princess of Transfiguration because Queen was already taken by McGonagall. She studied up on every spell we learned and would learn and in the exact way it was carried out, just so she could show everyone up in class. Lily was like this in Potions as well, but that might be because her and Severus Snape have a thing going on. But you didn't hear that from me. Anyways, I personally don't think Lily has to be so studious and always stuck in the library like a Ravenclaw (no offense to that lot though; my best friend is a Ravenclaw). I think she's just so self-conscious that she's a Muggleborn and has to compensate for it. Overall, Lily is a nice person. Not genuinely kind unless you're her best friend, but nice...unless your name is James Potter.

Speaking of James Potter! Oh, there are so many things I could say about that boy. Well, for one, he just so happens to be the only other person who is as good at Transfiguration as Lily or I. For our classmates it was maddening._ The Transfiguration Trio_, they called us. Professor McGonagall didn't mind, or at least, I _think_ she didn't. Once, when the three of us walked into the room for second period and our classmates joked, "Oh, look! It's the Transfiguration Trio!" our Professor merely looked up and nodded in our direction in greeting.

The thing about the "Transfiguration Trio" was that James Potter didn't actually like Transfiguration. He was just good at it. _Extremely_ good at it. It was aggravating how lazy he was with his work, but still managed to produce the same results as Lily or I, more or less. At least Lily and I truly appreciated the subject; James just thought it was another class to pass and get a decent OWL on. Defense Against the Dark Arts, however, he was, hands down, the best at. It was his subject. I came second to him, and my best friend who I mentioned earlier, joked that we were the _Defense Duo_. She thought it was funny. I thought she was lame.

Suddenly, something hit the back of my head. Turning around to swear quietly at the person because some people were still trying to transfigure their hedgehogs into pincushions (Remus, who was also in this class, had learned the hard way that swear words affected spells, thanks to James), I expected it to be Finney Chaisson, this pompous prat of a Slytherin I've loathed my entire time at Hogwarts when in first year he dumped a whole pitcher of pumpkin juice in my life. First, I hate pumpkin juice as much as I hate him, and second, he didn't even apologize, although it may or may not have been an accident. That's besides the point now, though, because he just kind of went along with hating me because I hated him.

Yet instead of Finney, it was James. _Great_.

I mouthed a _What?_ at him, and he pointed at the balled up piece of parchment that had hit me. _Read it_, he mouthed back.

Careful not to make so much un-crinkling noise to read the parchment, I opened it.

_Practice's been moved to tonight 5:30-9:30. Can't do tomorrow._

As Gryffindor's Seeker since second year, I was used to James pulling my wand. It got worse when he was named captain this year. I rolled my eyes at him and pulled a face, but he looked serious as he wrote on a separate piece of parchment. The words appeared on my crinkled piece when he looked up.

_I'm not going to be there for the first hour either._

Hastily pulling out my own quill, I scribbled, _I hate you, you loathsome oaf._

James snorted.

"And _what_, pray tell, is so amusing, Mr. Potter?"

I froze; my stomach suddenly felt like it had dropped into the dungeons beneath us. Professor McGonagall eyed my parchment paper with a mixture of suspicion and curiosity. I was tempted to give it to her, but James cleared his throat before I could snitch on both of us.

"Well, Minnie-"

Professor McGonagall's eyes narrowed.

"-well, _Professor_, Georgie Paredes, my favorite Seeker in the entire world, just called me a loathsome oaf," James explained with his crooked grin. My eyes widened at the betrayal.

"Professor! I-"

"Georgiana was being nice, Potter," Lily spat next to me. Oohs sounded around the room.

"Stop that!" McGonagall snapped to keep the class under control. "Firstly, Mr. Potter, why did she call you a-"

"A loathsome oaf? Well, for one, I told her practice was moved to today-"

"James, you're kidding," Tina Frey, another fifth year Chaser, whined. I did not blame her.

"And that I wouldn't be there for the first hour. You understand, right professor?" James said winningly. I loved James, but he was laying it on so thick I was mentally retching. McGonagall, who suddenly looked stricken, nodded solemnly. I stuck my tongue out at James to let him know he was being a git, but he had turned away and was looking very serious. His attention was now on a large piece of folded parchment.

"Of course. Now, students, may I see your pincushions? And Mr. Chaisson, preferably _without_ legs so it won't run away when I try to stick a needle into it?"


	2. Girl Almighty

_Girl Almighty_ by One Direction

"Jameson Charles Potter!" I hissed at him as soon as the bell rang.

"Sorry? Someone say something? Is there anyone down there?" James looked around mock frantically before looking down. "Ah. There you are, Georgie. Almost stepped on you-_OW_! Merlin, G, I was just messing around!"

The History of Magic book I hit him with was still in my hands. I shrunk it with a muttered _Diminuendo _so it could fit into my bag, then looked (quite) up to James.

"First of all, why'd you have to go switch up practice on me? _Hmm_?! And then shake up McGonagall like that?! We're due for that next practical in about a week! Second, who's going to lead practice for the first hour? Bet you didn't think of that, did you! Last time you were gone for a whole ten minutes, Cassius diFaria took it upon _his_ high and mighty self to-"

"Will you shut it?" James said sternly. His tone made me shut up, like he asked, and my eyes began to prickle. Call me a crybaby, but it's not everyday one of my good friends asks me to shut up when I haven't finished chewing him out.

He sighed when he saw me trying to discreetly blink away tears. Key word _trying_ because he saw the tears fall anyway. "Look, G, I'm sorry. Tomorrow night's just important, alright? Besides, you'll be fine at practice."

I sniffled. "Why's that?"

James didn't look at me as he smiled smugly. "Well, I have just decided to make my favorite Seeker in the entire world my second in command."

"James, that's a completely _horrid_ idea!"

* * *

><p>Yet there I was, ten minutes into practice of the first hour of James's absence. Everyone was a bit rowdy because James wasn't there. We were usually more solemn than Remus when he came back from visiting his mother when James was present. James thought he liked to rule with an iron fist.<p>

"Um, Georgie?"

I looked up from my seat on the ground to see a third year Laure (pronounced lore) Beckkett, our third and final Chaser this year, looking at me with confused eyes.

"Yes, love?"

I saw her mouth move, but I couldn't here what she said. It was getting a bit loud on the field. Pretty ridiculous because there were only seven of us on it.

"Come again?"

Once more, Laure's mouth moved, and once more I couldn't hear it. The damn field and the damn team. I'm not sure if I was having an off day or not, but everything just kind of crumbled inside me. I was irritated, I was cold, and I wouldn't be able to eat until 10.

"OI! YOU LOT!"

The field suddenly went quiet. _Finally!_

"LAURE'S BEEN TRYING TO ASK ME QUESTION FOR THE PAST MINUTE, BUT ALL OF YOU HAVE BEEN SO DAMN LOUD! JAMES, BEING THE PRAT HE IS-"

I heard whoops of agreement, and normally I would've laughed too, but today I wasn't having it. I continued.

"-ISN'T GOING TO BE HERE FOR THE FIRST HOUR! MCGONAGALL KNOWS THIS. HOWEVER, NO ONE HERE IS GOING TO BE DISRESPECTFUL TO ANYONE ELSE HERE BECAUSE JAMES ISN'T HERE TO BABYSIT EVERYBODY! WE ARE GOING TO ACT LIKE A TEAM, WITH OR WITHOUT HIM, IS THAT CLEAR?"

There were murmurs, and then Cassius diFaria shouted, "Who put you in charge?"

I stood there for a few seconds, stunned that I had blown up and then turned it into an order. But, it was only for a few seconds.

"Well, _diFaria_, I don't see anyone else womaning up to save all our arses when James comes back to see we've accomplished nothing. Do _you_?"

Now, normally, Cassius would make some sexist and/or chauvinistic remark, but he wouldn't dare in front of the team (three of which were girls who perfectly understood a sexist and/or chauvinistic remark when they heard one). Thankfully, this time he didn't say a thing. He just shut his mouth.

"Lovely. Now, everyone start with running one lap with our brooms then flying one lap. We're going to do this only three times alternating. Do _not_ do more than that. I don't know about you, but when James makes us do this five times I want to strangle him!"

* * *

><p>Practice ended early, thank Merlin.<p>

Tina and Laure had gone ahead of James and I so they could still try catch up for dinner. Thus, we were walking together in a castle corridor, smelly, sweaty, and very, very hungry. It was quiet until he spoke.

"I heard that the first hour of practice had gone well," he said. I rolled my eyes at him and he laughed.

"Good thing you didn't tell them I put you in charge," he countinued as he began to undo his practice robes. "That would've started a riot."

"You think?" I said mock-astonished. "Not like one member of the team is a sixth year, and the sixth year is an egotistical, chauvinistic maniac who hates being ordered around by a fifth year who's a Cornish pixie compared to him!"

You have to understand that I'm not all that funny, but James still seems to laugh at a lot of things I say. In fact, he laughed so hard at my comment that he almost dropped his broom and practice robe as we turned a corner.

"But you still had everything under control," James conceded after his laughing fit. I shrugged.

"Sure, James. I-" My own stomach growled to interrupt me. Traitor.

I pointed at it. "You know this is _your_ fault, right?"

James started to laugh again, and then his stomach growled.

"Alright, this isn't funny anymore. We should've been with Tina and Laure."

"Yeah, really?" I muttered. James narrowed his eyes at me, then snorted.

"You know, you really _are_ a Cornish pixie-"

"_GEE_, James, I don't-"

"-because it's impossible to be mad at you. You're so..._petite_," he said teasingly. I cuffed him on the shoulder. Hard.

"You might be a complete bitch sometimes but-OW! Why do you hit so hard for a Cornish pix-_OW_! _Alright_! I'll stop!"

I glared at him. "Good."

"Seriously, though, we need to get something to eat. There is no way-"

"-I'm going to finish homework-"

"-I'm going to be ready for the full moon-"

We said this at the same time, and I laughed at what James said.

"Ready for the full moon? What, are you a werewolf or something?" I had said this jokingly, but the shocked look on James's face told me he hadn't been. The awkward silence I created lasted for about a minute before James said anything again.

"...erm, no. Full moon is a term Minnie and I use to talk about detention in reference to one incident with Peeves," he explained with a weak smile.

"Oh! That makes sense," I said. It didn't, really, but 'full moon' had a lot of denotations that really could mean anything if it had to do with Peeves.

"Besides, werewolves are pretty dodgy creatures," James concluded offhandedly. We stopped at a peculiar painting. In the dark, it looked like a fruit basket.

"No, not really, I think that-" James put a hand over my mouth to shush me. I poked his palm lightly with my tongue and he recoiled. So did I; he tasted salty, like sweat.

"Gross!" he whined. I rolled my eyes. "I'm hungry, James. I need to eat so I can finish homework."

"Yeah. I know. So shush." He found what looked like to be a green pear in the painting of the fruit basket and rubbed his finger back and forth on it. It giggled quietly, and the painting swung forward.

"What..." I said quietly. Glorious smells of food wafted into the air, and what waited behind the painting looked like...kitchens?

"James, are those the _Hogwarts_ kitchens?"

He grinned crookedly at me. "Are they?"

We stepped into the doorway, and James was careful to close the painting (door?) quietly.

Around us, house elves in clean pillowcases milled about the copper and white marble open kitchen. Some cooked while others polished copper pans and pots. There were four stations, one for each House. I glanced at Gryffindor's station and giggled. It was the largest one. It made sense; girl or boy, first year or seventh, all Gryffindors ate like we had never seen food in our entire lives.

One house elf with very large gray eyes ran up to James with the biggest smile I've ever seen on anyone.

"Master Potter! Master Potter!"

It had a squeaky, feminine voice.

"Hello, Pippa. How are you?"

"Pippa is well, Master Potter!" She looked very excited to see him, and more excited to see me. "Who is your lady friend, Master Potter? Are you Master Potter's bird?"

I snorted in a most un-birdlike way.

"No, Pippa, I'm not," I said. She continued to smile widely.

"Are you Miss Georgie then?"

"I am, yes. How did you know?"

Pippa giggled. It was cute. "Master Potter talks about Miss Georgie all the time! How she's so small but her-"

"ALRIGHT PIP!" James interrupted while chuckling nervously. "Pip, would you be a dear and grab a shepherd's pie-"

"Make that two, please. And a butterbeer," I added. I fixed my eyes on James.

"James, I-"

"Oi! Mate!"

James and I turned to see James's other, best friends. Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew. Notoriously known as the Marauders.


	3. Teenagers

_Teenagers_ by My Chemical Romance

Out of all four of the Marauders, I was closest to James because it'll help you out when you're friends with your Quidditch captain, then Remus because he was the second person to befriend me in first year (Leila was the first), then Peter because he was easier to talk to than Sirius, then Sirius. Except I really don't think you could even call Sirius and I close. We talked so little there wasn't even a Sirius and I. Our most interactions were the times I was with James and if we literally bump into each other in the hallway or in class. Even then everything was short and/or awkward.

It was regrettable that I did not know him more, but my best friend (whose name is Leila Kaplan, by the way) says it's the best for me. Sirius had recently been busying himself with certain...ah, _activities_, and apparently, he went around. Personally, I've never seen him be obnoxiously cocky about it, but that's because Sirius is very discreet. He never seeks out his partners; they come to him.

He didn't look up as I joined them at the marble counters. Remus, however, did and managed to smile.

"Hey, Rem," I said. "You look awful."

Remus snorted, but it turned into a coughing fit. When it had subsided, he said, "I _feel_ awful. I caught a cold a couple days ago and I feel..._ugh_."

I reached for his hand and gave it a squeeze. "You'll be better in no time. If not, then just come up to my rooms and see me. Pretty sure I have some cold potions that my mum Owled." My mum was a Healer at St. Mungo's. My father was a Curse breaker who frequently came home with strange but fixable injuries.

Remus smiled appreciatively, yet Sirius scoffed softly. "Sounds like an invitation, love."

"Because it _is_?" I said, confused.

"Oi, lay off her, Padfoot," James warned. Obviously he wasn't being too harsh on him because they were best friends, but I glowed at his defense. Though I remained neutral on the Sirius topic, I could see where I lie with him.

"Alright," Sirius said. He raised his hands in surrender. "I'll 'lay off' your _favorite_ Cornish pixie-"

"Oi!_ Lay off_!" I repeated. It hadn't been funny when James had said it, so why in Merlin's name did Sirius think it was okay for him to?

Sirius gave me a sideways look and smirked lazily; it was more mean than anything. "Whatever you say, love."

"THE FOOD'S HERE!" shouted Peter, who I had forgotten was there until he had shouted. I tore my gaze away from Sirius and looked to find Pippa and more house elves carrying our food. Pippa handed me and James our shepherd's pies and my butterbeer. Another house elf gave Remus a golden goblet with a spicy smelling liquid and a tureen of soup. Peter had been given a pasta dish. Sirius looked at all of us with disdain when he was presented with a fine steak meal.

As we began to eat our impromptu dinner, I was beginning to feel unwelcome. I rarely ate at meals with James and Remus, much less with Sirius. His gray eyes were beginning to bore into me in a most uncomfortable way, so I picked up my tray and got up.

"James? I've really got to get started on homework. Thanks for showing me here," I said, gesturing at my tray. He looked worried as I started to leave.

"Are you sure? It's pretty late, I don't want you to get in trouble," he said. "Is there anything I can do before you leave?"

I thought for a moment, then bit my lip to keep myself from smiling too hard.

"Yes, actually. Could you hold my tray while I undo my practice robes?"

"Of course," James said, taking my tray away from. I undid the clasp at the top of my robe, then the buttons. I slipped out of it and held it in half on my arm. Then, I turned around.

"Bless your heart, James, love," I said sweetly.

"Er," he answered, his cheeks turning pink as he tried hard to look at my face.

"Prongs, what's-" Remus interrupted himself by spitting out his drink when he saw me.

"He's just helping me with my tray. Thank you, James," I smiled. I took my tray from him and headed towards the painting.

"Good bye!"

Because I held my food tray, I couldn't close the painting behind me nor could I look back. I was happy with myself, though. I was glad I decided to wear just my sports bra and compression pants underneath my robes today.

* * *

><p>I finished my dinner and homework in the Common Room and was so, so ready to take a shower. I grabbed my towel and toiletries basket and headed towards the showers. On my way up, though, I dropped my wand.<p>

"Merlin," I muttered, chasing it around awkwardly before it finally stopped in front of the communal showers' door. It struck me as odd that the door looked a little different at night, but it didn't matter. I was just glad I could finally take a shower.

I set down my belongings and stripped off my clothes; I didn't bother to turn on any lights. I mean, I've lived in this school for years. To me, it's like turning on the lights at night in your room: 1) you live in your room and you know it like the back of your hand, and 2) you don't need it. I washed and conditioned my hair, then continued with my face and body. The warm rain of the water washed away the dirt and sweat from Quidditch practice. I was content.

When I started to get pruny I decided it was time to get out of the shower. I gathered my shampoo, conditioner, and body wash and put it in my toiletries basket. I dried my body with my towel and wrapped it around myself. I put sweet Argan oil in my damp hair and dried it with my wand.

Suddenly, the door opened and the light turned on. My eyes adjusted and I started to panic as I didn't see the typical five bajillion products for hair, skin, body, and face around the sinks and mirrors. The counters were nearly bare but for a bottle of cologne and a few deodorants. _Old Spice_ deodorants.

"Oi, mate, you really have to try to not take so long in the shower."

I screamed when I recognized the deep voice.


	4. Scary Conversation

A/N: Please know I have read the books. In canon, I know that Regulus and Sirius are about two years apart. HOWEVER, I will do an age adjustment for the purpose of this story so that Regulus is a fifth year and Georgie will not look like a creep.

_Scary Conversation_ by Slow Moves

"Shit, shit, _shit_, I'm _so_ sorry," I said, grabbing my toiletries basket and trying to leave. Sirius, being a whole foot taller than me (my being only five feet tall), blocked my way. Surprisingly, he was emotionless.

"You hair looks nice," he commented while looking at it. This remark was rather benign, despite his behavior earlier.

He was still blocking my way.

"It's dry. You already take your shower? Can I join you this time?"

There he was. The inappropriate Sirius I (barely) knew. Accustomed to, I would think the better word choice to be.

"Shove off," I growled. He smirked again, and it was just as mean as it was in the kitchens.

"Of course, my Cornish pixie," he sneered, finally letting me through. Wand in hand, I bolted.

* * *

><p>"So, you walked in on <em>him<em>?" The next morning, my best friend Leila Kaplan was scandalized.

"No, you twit! I walked into the wrong bathroom," I said, correcting her for probably the tenth time. Leila shot me a disbelieving look.

"I did! It was dark and we actually live in the castle so I didn't think I would need the lights," I said. Leila laughed at me.

"Yeah, sure, of course, Georgie," she said mockingly. I stuck my tongue out at her, irritated that she didn't believe me. She responded in kind by pushing me off the Ravenclaw bench.

"Gryffindor down! Gryffindor down!" I shouted. The surrounding Ravenclaws chuckled at me. They were used to me and Leila's antics.

"Don't worry, Cornish pixie, I'm coming to save you."

Leila laughed as I hurried to pick myself up so Sirius wouldn't have a reason to talk to or touch me after yesterday's incident.

His face seemed to be set in a blank mask when he got to me. Around us, girls whispered.

He was too fit and had too nice of hair to be a mortal person and to talk to me, not going to lie.

He smirked at me before bending down to whisper, "You left your bath products basket in the boys' lavatory. I've put them back." He was so close his hair fell out of place and tickled my face.

I jerked away from him. His closeness and the mere fact his hair was tickling my face felt inappropriate. "Where did you-"

But he had already turned away. I groaned and stuck my tongue out at him. Prat.

"I hope you end up together," Leila teased. I made a face at her.

"I don't. I've no idea where he's been or who he's slept with-"

Leila snorted. "How do you know if he even sticks around to even _sleep_?"

* * *

><p>"Class, I've decided to do something a little different today," Professor Slughorn announced as soon as we had filed into the room. Lily and Severus Snape looked stricken; probably didn't want to be separated in the only class where James couldn't harass the two of them. Remus, who looked even worse than awful, made a noise that sounded like "Please, no, have mercy."<p>

While Severus and Lily were fine and dandy with each other, they were the only Gryffindor and Slytherin that got along. Sirius was in this relatively small class, and so was his brother Regulus. Finney Chaisson, Kerry Stevens, and Precia Rolfsone, too. Leila, Tristan Riccio, and Geoffrey Kauffman were the Ravenclaws. Kimberly Hart and Dean Davis were the only Hufflepuffs. Sirius usually sat with Tristan, Geoffrey, and Dean, while Leila, Kimberly, Remus, and I sat with each other. It made Sirius slightly irritated that Remus chose my company over his. Serves him right.

"I have decided that we are going to change up our seating arrangements!" Slughorn sounded so pleased with himself.

"Um, Professor, why? I mean, why have you decided that? We're perfectly fine the way we are now," I asked before I could stop myself. There were murmurs of agreement, and I made eye contact with Lily from the table over. She mouthed a _thank you_, and I swear I even saw Severus nod.

"Well, Ms. Paredes-"

"There haven't been...scuffles either," piped in Kimberly.

"-and Ms. Smart-"

"It's _Hart_," Kimberly growled back. Remus and I cracked a smile at her irritation, but Slughorn continued on as if Kimberly hadn't said a thing.

"-we're going to be working on a personality-altering potion called Cupiditas."

Immediately, Lily's hand shot up into the air.

"Professor, is this a love potion?"

Slughorn shook his head. "That would be rather dangerous to brew in a class of teenagers, wouldn't it?"

A few people tittered.

"Like I said before, Cupiditas is a personality-altering potion. It makes someone a little more confident or outgoing, and more inclined to show romantic interest, real or fake, towards another person."

"So, this is basically a flirtation potion, Professor?" Regulus spoke, and his voice sounded a lot like Sirius's. There was something missing in it, though, and it was replaced with something else. The light-hearted, joking quality in Sirius's voice was replaced by coldness in Regulus's, I think.

"Precisely, Mr. Black," Slughorn nodded.

"...why are you having us brew this, Professor? This is dangerous," Dean said nervously.

"Because, Mr. Mavis, this potion is very difficult to make. This is a good group activity because it will help everyone with communication. Like Ms. Smart said, there haven't been any scuffles; I would like to keep it that way. Should one occur and especially in this period in this room, so many things could go wrong." The reason we were going to make this potion surprised me; it was rather deep and rather responsible of Slughorn to assign something like this. It was alarming. I just hoped he picked the right people to go together. If he didn't, _ so many things could go wrong_, indeed.

"You will be working in pairs I will choose."

Remus made his awkward noise again, and I squeezed his hand. To comfort him, of course, but also to get him to stop making that awkward noise of his.

"Ms. Evans and Mr. Riccio."

I envied her. Tristan was pretty cute.

"Ms. Rolfstone and Mr. Kauffman."

Precia was alright enough for a Slytherin. She mostly kept to herself; Geoffrey should consider himself lucky.

"Ms. Smart and Mr. Chaisson."

Kimberly whimpered as she got up to join Finney. I'd be whimpering too if I had to work on a flirting potion with Fidgety Hands Finney.

"Ms. Kaftan and Mr. Snape."

Leila narrowed her eyes at Slughorn before waving at Severus. He nodded respectfully. They had an odd friendship. Not as odd as his with Lily's, but odd.

"Ms. Paredes and Mr. Black."

I sighed, but Lily of all people saved me.

"Which one, Professor?"

"Which one _indeed_, Ms. Evans. Let's make it...Regulus."

I didn't know which was worse. A Black I barely knew, and only that he was disrespectful and demeaning, or one I didn't know at all.

As I tried to pick my stuff up from the floor, I felt someone trying to walk over me.

"DON'T-"

It's unsuccessful as that someone tripped over me. No one laughed though, so it's probably someone incredibly serious or incredibly scary.

I realized it's both when I started to apologize and was met with narrowed, frigid light blue eyes.

Don't I ever do _anything_ right?


	5. Toxic

_Toxic_ by Britney Spears

At this point in time, I was resigned to the fact that I am and always will be a failure at social interaction, especially with people I didn't know at all.

Thankfully nothing's spilled, but Regulus was giving me the most hateful look as he was standing up.

"I'm sorry," I choked out. I was afraid. Really. Regulus hung out with the few extremists in Slytherin (especially his actual witch of a cousin Bellatrix) and I didn't even want to know what accidentally tripping him warranted.

His hateful stare softened just a bit. He gave me a sideways glance instead, similar to Sirius's, and he nodded slowly in return.

I took out my Potions book to find Cupiditas. As soon as I did, though, I almost cried as I looked at the ingredients and how to prepare it. I must've actually sniffled, too, because Regulus came directly behind me to look at the instructions. He loomed over me and I felt like a Christmas elf.

"Doesn't look that difficult. Lots of ingredients up in shelves _you_ can't reach, but not that difficult," he said quietly. I narrowed my eyes at him because _golly, I've never heard that one before_, but he chuckled. It was weird. Mostly because I had just tripped him and was expecting him to be breathing fire, but also because it was the first time I'd ever seen him smile, and we'd been in this class for almost two months.

"Give me the book and I'll get the ingredients. You should start preparing the cauldron," he instructed. I nodded and heated up the cauldron as he left. I turned around to put my hair up in a bun away from the fire, but as soon as I turned back around, Severus was behind me.

"Cupiditas asks for veela hair in order to get a certain consistency," he said. I looked for where it said that in the book.

"Merlin, Severus, that's already step six!"

"Yes, I can count, you Cornish pixie," he hissed at me. I glared at him, but he ignored me and continued. "But I put in half of what the recipe calls for and the potion's already too runny and the incorrect shade of pink. I need your hair."

I tried to hide my embarrassment. "Why? I'm not a veela, but thanks, Severus-"

He snorted derisively at me. "I know _you're_ not, but your grandmother is."

"...how'd you-"

"Leila's my friend too," he smirked. I looked over at her and she shrugged noncommittally.

She couldn't keep a secret to save her life.

I sighed. "This is so strange, but sure," I muttered. I grabbed a knife from the table and undid my bun. I didn't think much of what I was doing when I hacked off a long piece and gave it to him.

"Thank you," he said, bobbing awkwardly into what I assumed was a bow. He left when Regulus returned.

"Why'd you just give Severus a bit of your hair?" he asked as he lay out all the ingredients on the table. I put my hair up again and noticed how Regulus cocked his head like a dog when he looked at it.

"Something about the potion needing a certain type of hair," I said offhandedly. "Now, since the cauldron water's heated up, what do we add first?"

"It says to add phosphor bean juice, then shredded dragon heart-"

"You're kidding!" We've never been allowed to work with dragon heart, and it was terribly expensive. It was also one of my mum's favorite ingredients to work with at St. Mungo's.

"No, not really. Most of the ingredients come from different creature's hearts and brains. Other stuff comes from things that smell great or look good," he explained seriously. I could tell by his tone that he completely didn't care about what we were doing. Probably just wanted to get away from the girl who tripped him.

"I'm going to cut up the phosphor bean to get the juice. You measure the shredded dragon heart and stir clockwise five times after they've been added," Regulus said. I nodded, and used a measuring cup to measure the shredded dragon heart. It was dried and a rather interesting lavender color. It looked a bit like pasta, too.

The phosphor bean suddenly hit my hand as it slipped away when Regulus tried to cut it.

"_Bloody_-"

"I think if you crushed it with the side of your blade rather than directly cutting it, it would be easier to get the juice. I've seen Severus do it like that loads of times," I said in an attempt to be helpful. Without saying anything, he tried it. The juice was ruby red and abundant when it squirted out onto Regulus's hands. He smiled when he added it to the cauldron, for real this time and not because I had said something idiotic, and it was quite nice.

I added the shredded dragon heart and stirred. Regulus worked on the powdered mermaid scales and added that as well. I sliced some Queen Alexandria butterfly wings while Regulus hacked away at a Tiger-root. The effort was commendable until he started get the cloyingly sweet juice everywhere; if he hadn't taken charge earlier, I wouldn't have assumed he was a little kid when it came to Potions.

"Let me do it, love," I said gently. He did a double take at the endearment that I used, mostly for children and close friends, but he let go of the knife. I made concise cuts around the stripes of the root that gave it its name, and the true prize in them, the heart-shaped seeds, were released. Regulus gathered them quickly and added them into our current brew. It caused it to turn a lovely pearly white.

"It's pretty," I commented. Regulus barely glanced at it before looking at the book again.

"The book says veela hair, but...wait, _that's_ why you gave Severus your hair, isn't it?" The realization dawned on him, and he looked more intrigued than confused. "I mean, you're decent looking, but I wouldn't know to go as far as _part-veela_..."

"Yeah, thanks, Black," I said dryly. I guess if that was payback for tripping him, I was grateful if not slightly offended. Rather be called ugly to my face than to face being cornered alone by Bellatrix.

He stiffened at the use of his last name, but he didn't stop there. "No, what I mean is, it was surprising."

"That didn't help _at all_..."

"I didn't know. I mean, it would explain a lot, wouldn't it?" He looked desperate ot get his point across, but now I was just getting confused.

"Explain what?"

"Never mind, I never brought it up," he grumbled, finally letting the subject go. Wordlessly, I undid my bun and, cheating a little bit, gave myself a little trim by cutting my split ends. I caught them before they fell and added it to the cauldron with a quick clockwise stir. The potion turned candyfloss pink, just like the book said it should at that stage.

Regulus cleared his throat after an obvious moment of shock. "So, the lacewing flies and blood beetle shells, then?"

* * *

><p>The now cobalt blue potion, despite its sometimes vomit-worthy ingredients (unicorn feces? Really?), smelled amazing. Our potion, I mean. Everyone else's besides Severus, Leila, Lily, and Remus's must have added too much of that ingredient or others because it sure <em>smelled<em> that way.

"Black, have you-"

"I would prefer you call me by my first name. We have, after all, been working on this since the beginning of class," he said quietly. "Try that again."

Puzzled, I said, "Regulus, have you smelled the Cupiditas?

He finally looked at me. "I haven't, Georgiana, but-" He paused to smell it. "Wow, that actually smells fantastic. Professor Slughorn?"

Slughorn looked up at Regulus's call. "Yes, m'boy?"

"This potion, Cupiditas. Does it smell different to everyone, like Amortentia?"

Professor Slughorn's eyebrow furrowed. "Yes, it does. Why? May I see your batch?"

He walked over to us and inspected our cauldron. A wide smile spread across his face as he looked at the two of us.

"Like I said, Cupiditus is very difficult to make. I didn't expect anyone to actually finish it," he said. "This batch is perfect. Flawless, actually. Something special was added in its making. You won't be hearing me talking about it, though." Slughorn winked at us conspiratorially as he made a quick getaway to observe Leila and Severus's brew.

"Wonder what he might mean by that," Regulus said. He leaned over the fire to inhale our concoction. "I've said it before and I'll say it again: this smells bloody fantastic!"

"It does, doesn't it? If you don't mind me asking, Regulus, what does it smell like to you?"

He paused. "Well, I smell chocolate, roast beef, and..." Regulus sniffed it again, trying to grasp the name of a third scent. "I...dunno, actually. It just smells very sweet, like caramel, or candy floss." It made me grimace because really, how could those three smell good altogether? but I closed my eyes as I inhaled the wonderful smell. I smelled leather, like my notebooks, my favorite perfume, and...a strangely familiar spicy/cool scent. It wasn't minty, but it felt cold. Refreshing, like ice.

"Class dismissed!" Slughorn suddenly announced. My class bolted for the door, eager to get away from the horrid stench of their potion. I lingered, gathering my materials slowly. Regulus had gone up to Slughorn and started to talk to him. When Regulus managed to steer Slughorn into the closet of the more dangerous ingredients, I nicked a sizable glass bottle and stopper from another table and transferred the Cupiditas into it. I left just as their voices had become audible from the ingredients closet.


	6. Diane Young

_Diane Young_ by Vampire Weekend

"Heard you were getting a little chummy with my brother, Georgiana," I heard a cool voice say behind me. I groaned. Of course it was the Drama King of Gryffindor House; who else would try to bother me as I read my book? While minding my own business on a school night, no less!

"Sirius, you were there! You're in my Potions class! What, you want me to explain to you what really happened like, "_see, what happened was that I tripped your seemingly decent brother-_"

"Save it, Georgiana," he hissed, so precisely that he almost sounded like Severus.

_Weird_.

"You watch what you say about my brother. He's dangerous. All this shit from home has been drilled into his simple head, and I don't want it messing with anything around me, alright?"

"We don't even talk!" I shouted indignantly. Thankfully we were the only ones in the Common Room. Our arguing, though it was going to be heard, would not be a spectacle for other Gryffindors to bother to watch.

"What do I have to do with 'anything around you'? You're rude and demeaning, and I personally don't understand why you pick on me. Why do you even have to get up in my business anyway? You have your own life to worry about, and I have mine! I wasn't 'getting a little chummy with your brother' in Potions today, either! It's called being a decent human being; if you ask me you might want to try it sometime! Not everyone appreciates you trying to nose your way into their lives!"

"_I'm_ nosing my way into _your _life?! First of all, sweetheart, you like to think you're one of James's best friends; sorry, you're not, by the way. You just act more like a slag that throws herself at him more than the Quaffle. Secondly, you used the boys' shower yesterday! Specifically _our_ shower!"

I was turning redder by the minute. The shower thing was still embarrassing and I had yet to find my toiletries basket, but calling me a slag just made me even angrier.

"I'm a _slag_? Love, I'm probably the most virginal person you'll ever meet! You and your brother's comments about me are really _quite_ sweet, though; first I'm unattractive, then I'm desperate too! The only one who's desperate here is you. Sleeping around doesn't solve any problems or give you the love you thing you need!"

Was I a horrible person for not regretting what I just said about him?

Sirius blinked at me, his eyebrows furrowed in concentration. We were spared more fighting when James and Peter came down the boys' stairs. They looked to be in a hurry.

"Oi! Padfoot! We-" James started when he saw I was standing in my fluffy robe that was as red as my face. "Er, hullo, Georgie."

"Hullo, Georgie!" Peter added. "Hullo, Pete."

"What are you doing up?" James asked, leaning against the wall and trying to hide something underneath his jumper.

"I could ask you the same question."

"I'm your team captain," he reminded me.

"I'm older than you," I shot back. "Is this what you moved practice for? Sneaking out?"

He shook his head and avoided my question. "I don't have time for this. Padfoot, we have to go!"

"Where are you going?!" I shouted after their running forms out the portrait hole.

"Nowhere an uptight Prefect needs to know!" came Sirius's answer.

I huffed when I remembered that I really was one, a Prefect, that is. Damn it, I could have docked points from James for sneaking out! Right in front of me! I don't even wear my pin most days, so few people knew. Hell, _I_ even forgot. I must have pretty hardcore forgotten today then. I'm guessing Sirius only knew because of Remus, who I hadn't seen with them. Which got me thinking...

* * *

><p>I knew I was going to regret it so much in the morning, but not as much as I would on a real school night. It was Thursday night, eve of Fridays in which I had only my core periods.<p>

I donned clean black compression pants, a black jumper, and black trainers. I was careful to choose the ones that didn't have the annoying little reflective strip in the laces. I pulled my hair up, nice and tight. My hair was as dark as Sirius's but nowhere as nice. Wish I had a hat to cover it, but I had no time to waste. My eyes darted around the room as I tried to sneak away in silence, but the glint of a bottle caught my eye.

The Cupiditas I had nicked earlier today lay in its bottle, and I was almost tempted to take it with me. Almost. Slughorn hadn't been so clear as to its actual purpose and use to make me feel safe about using it without knowing what it truly did.

I literally tip-toed out of the room, out of the Common Room, and then past the painting. I blessed the Fat Lady's friend Violet, who gave the woman a little something to drink now and then. She sat, snoring in her drunken sleep.

I almost broke into a run, but decided against it. I yanked my wand out from underneath my jumper and did some variation of a twirling baton routine up and around myself. I just hoped it would produce the same results as the perfect Disillusionment charm I had seen performed in the diagram of a sixth year Charms textbook lying around.

After a few seconds of feeling nothing, I began to give up. Who was I kidding? I had taught myself the spell a couple minutes ago when I decided that it was my duty as 'uptight Prefect' to see what the Marauders sans Remus were up to. Not long after, though, I felt a blanket of cool air wrap around myself. I looked at my hand and saw...nothing. I squealed in excitement.

"Hmm? Who's there?" The Fat Lady woke up momentarily, but saw nothing and closed her eyes again. I punched the air; yes! Not bad for someone with their own evil intentions to follow the Marauders.

I ran down the half dozen stairs, careful to not make so much noise, and prayed they wouldn't sense me and start moving. They didn't. Probably asleep, like I should be, but who cared; this was exhilarating!

So exhilarating, in fact, that I finally realized that I had no idea where I was going.


	7. Do I Wanna Know?

_Do I Wanna Know?_ by the Arctic Monkeys

Once upon a time three years ago, I was signed up to tryout for the Gryffindor Quidditch team as a consolation. Our previous Seeker had graduated, and the current captain was nervous wreck of a seventh year Carlisle Paige when he realized no one was trying out to be Seeker. I had been standing next to James at the sign up sheet when Carlisle rolled around.

"Potter, is it? You trying out for Seeker?" The poor thing looked desperate. James shook his head, then glanced at me before grinning.

"I'm not, but she is!" he said as he scrawled my name underneath his. I didn't even know James then; it surprised me that he knew my name. I was pretty sure he was just messing with Carlisle and just wanted to throw me under the double decker buses that we have in London.

But Carlisle's eyes lit up. "Perfect! You're tiny! With a little training, you could be the best Seeker Gryffindor's had in a long, long time!"

"I don't know about _that_-"

Yet Carlisle was long gone then. Hands on my hips, I turned to James.

"Why'd you do that? I don't even know you!"

"I dunno. Just gave the bloke something to be happy about. My dad says seventh year's hard." He paused. "I'm James, by the way. James Potter.  
>I rolled my eyes. "Well, James Potter, thanks for signing me up for something I didn't want-"<p>

"No problem!" He turned away from me abruptly. Sirius, someone who even then I knew less, called him, and James ran. His footfalls were loud and definite and fast; the run of someone who just got away with pure cheek.

And it was this type of distinct footfall that led me to him on this night.

The Three Stooges hadn't even bothered to hide underneath anything, or use a spell. They were just running and laughing. Probably talking about how easily they had gotten away from me.

"Did you see her face?" James said as they slowed to a stop.

Why am I so good at being able to call stuff like that?

"Serves her right," Sirius muttered.

"But, Padfoot, I don't think it was nice of you to call her uptight," Peter said softly. "She forgets she's a Prefect sometimes, so we don't get 90% of the points docked off than we should. For all we know, she could be following us!" He paused to look around cautiously. "I didn't see her go back to her room-"

I bit my lip to keep myself from laughing too loudly. Then they would know I really was following them.

"Oh, shove off, Wormy, she wouldn't," James said. Wormy? "But yeah, Padfoot, it was a bit unfair of you to call her that. Mate, if you'd have seen her leave last night...there's _no_ way you'd be calling her uptight."

Trying to disguise his interest with _dis_interest, Sirius raised his eyebrows slowly.

"What'd she do?"

James bit his lip (and I found it annoyingly attractive) while trying to find words for what happened when I left the kitchens. "Well, she had me hold her tray when she took off her practice robe, right? She takes it off, and she's only wearing a bra and these skin tight compression pants, and I just-"

I had coughed out a laugh, which caused James to stop. His expression changed from gleeful to serious as he looked around furtively, just as Peter had done earlier. "I think I heard something. We have to get a move on; and _with _the cloak this time, alright?"

What cloak?

James pulled out a mangy black blanket, then threw it over himself, Sirius, and Peter. They disappeared.

Well, shit.


	8. Ain't No Rest for the Wicked

_Ain't No Rest for the Wicked_ by Cage the Elephant

I seriously thought I was done for then. I couldn't see them at all because of that _Invisibility_ _cloak_!

But I had nothing to fear. I almost forgot that James liked to talk too much when he was stressed about something.

"We should use the Herbology corridor to leave this time. Moony was really on edge today and we have to get out quickly," came his whisper somewhere ahead of me. I assumed that the three of them were all huddled together underneath the cloak. Good thing the Herbology corridor was close.

I followed their short path to the corridor that led to the outside. Once they had opened the door to be let out, I quickly ran ahead so they wouldn't leave me behind.

"That breeze is rather nice," James commented as he whipped off the cloack with a dramatic flourish. Irritated, Sirius tsked at him. "What breeze, you prat?"

James shrugged. "Never mind."

A sad, low sound, painful and angry ripped through the night.

The howl of a wolf.

James, Sirius, and Peter all looked at each in alarm, then broke into a run towards the Whomping Willow. I almost groaned as I realized that I too had to run to catch up with them. Again.

"We're coming!" Sirius shouted.

_What_? Why on _Earth_ would you tell the wolf that?!

Yet as they ran, Peter and Sirius seemed to shrink, the former downsizing the most. James actually grew. Dark patches of fur sprouted all over their bodies, and they all hunched forward. I could hear bones breaking and hissing closed to heal and it made me sick. However, their noises of discomfort were quiet and few.

It finally dawned on me that they might be used to it.

They weren't done yet, though; my jaw physically dropped as the three boys' faces elongated; James, into the snout of a deer. Sirius, into the face of a dog. Peter, into the face of a rodent, complete with whiskers. Horns sprouted rapidly from James's head and I nearly screamed at the sound. He was a deer! Well, a stag, but an animal, no less!

_Oh, Merlin_, I muttered when I finally realized what was happening. _They're Animagi_.

A large back dog bounded next to him, and a rat jumped onto the stag's back. They continued to run and I continued to follow. I was in too deep to stop.

I was glad they stopped when they reached the Whomping Willow. It gave me a chance to catch my breath. The boys (animals?) waited and listened for a minute.

Another pained howl pierced the night again. This time, I ran backwards, farther away from them. I had no idea what was going to happen, but whatever it was, I did not want to die or get hurt in any way.

The boys (animals? I was still not sure and still very afraid) seemed to ready themselves. Almost on cue for a movie, a beast bursted from the roots of the Whomping Willow. It landed right in front of the stag, dog, and rat. It rose up on its hind legs, howled once more.

It stayed on its hind legs.

I almost fainted when I realized it was a werewolf.

_Dodgy creatures, my arse_, I thought. _James was such a prat; calling them dodgy then seeking one out. Who was it, anyway?_

I got my answer when the werewolf made direct eye contact with me. Usually warm amber eyes stared back.

"OH, MERLIN! REMUS?!"

The dog and the werewolf both ran at me and I wasn't sure of either of their intentions. I just knew I had made one of the worst mistakes of my life.

I sprinted away for as long as I could before I tripped on a tree root and fell. I felt stupidly like one of those simple girls in Muggle horror films who couldn't get up after they tripped on a flat surface they weren't even trying to run on. It was then that I noticed I could see my hands and my hair. How long I'd been visible, I didn't know, but it was long enough to get me killed. I selfishly pitied myself when I curled up in a fetal position, too scared to rock back and forth.

Sirius (as a dog) got to me before Remus (as a werewolf) did. Instead of trying to attack me, he wrapped his large body around my vulnerable form like a snake. When Remus arrived, spitting and snarling like Lily after her Sleekening Hair Potion seemed a little lighter(I couldn't actually believe I thought that at the most inopportune time. I'm horrible.), Sirius growled. Remus growled back. He barked loudly and snapped at him and Remus reciprocated with more snarling so many times it seemed like they were about to fight. It went on for awhile before Remus backed off, whimpering a little bit. His whimpering got louder when I heard more bones cracking. His bones. With a sigh (or was it more of a cry?) of relief, I watched as my friend became human again. Tears streaked his dirty, scratched face, but other than that he was fine. And naked. Very naked.

At least he was on his stomach

Regardless, I shoved Sirius's large (and, admittedly, soft) body off of me and crawled over to Remus. He was still sniffling when I rubbed his back.

"Shhh..."

He opened his eyes slowly then shut them again. "Oh, my God...please tell me this isn't happening..."

With a sheepish smile, I said, "Sorry, love."

I heard bones cracking behind me and Sirius (thankfully fully clothed) sat down across from me. He tried hard not to look me in the eyes.

"Moons, I have clothes," he said softly. He set down said clothes and stalked away, leaving me alone with my broken friend.

"Remus?"

He didn't give me any obvious/conscious indication that he was listening, but I could tell that he was anyway. He had stopped sniffling loudly and was breathing deeply.

"I'm sorry."

More deep breathing.

"This is horrible that this happens to you every month."

Still more deep breathing.

"This was the worst way for me to find out something you obviously wanted to keep secret, but...I'm alright with you being a werewolf. I didn't get to tell James this, but werewolves are people. Just with a special ability, but they're still people. There are still good and bad people, as there are good and bad werewolves. You just have to be careful about which is which."

Remus let out a loud sigh and continued to breathe deeply while facedown in the grass.

"You have a nice arse."

This finally got a reaction out of him.

He snorted once, but it became a full-blown laughing fit. He laughed so hard that he was literally rolling on the ground, clutching his stomach. He started to cry again, and this time it was good crying. Out of happiness more than pain.

When it had subsided, he smiled lazily up at me. "Thank you, Georgie."

"For what? For telling you that you have a nice arse? Because you do, it's the truth, not a-"

"No. Seriously. Thank you for accepting me for who I am."

"Well, of course. You're one of my best friends, aren't you?"

Remus reached out to touch my cheek. "I am. And thank you, Georgie, for your friendship."

"I would really hate to break this up, but in case you haven't noticed, it's three in the morning and we better head back to the castle," James said sassily. "And put some clothes on, Moons, you're indecent in front of a lady."

I bit my lip to keep from giggling inappropriately. James was right, so I tried to get up. Key word tried, because a sharp, searing pain shot up my right leg when I attempted to stand.

"Oh, great. Now we have two cripples," Sirius grumbled. I shot him a dirty look and opened my mouth to tell him off, but James had quickly transformed into a stag again. He nudged me with his snout. Sirius narrowed his eyes at me before asking,"Moons, can you walk well enough?"

Remus had put on his clothes and was pulling on a jumper over his bare chest. "Mhmm. Why?"

Sirius gestured to me with his chin. "This one's hurt."

The poor thing started to panic. "Oh, no, no, no, no, no, what did I do? How did I hurt you? Did I scratch you? Did I step on you? Did I kick you? Did I...bite you?"

"No, she hurt herself." Sirius snapped. To me, he said, "Does it hurt a lot?"

I was surprised at his tone. It was sincere. So sincere, in fact, that it confused me and I didn't answer the first time.

"Oi! Does it hurt?"

Yes. There was the Sirius I was used to. Snapping and snarling at me like I was a threat to him.

"Mhmm. I can try to walk, though, I'll just-WHOA HOLD ON WHAT'S GOING ON?"

Sirius had picked me up and set me down on James's back. I sat on his back astride. "We walk to the castle and we get you and Remus to Madame Pomfrey. Easy as that."

"Where's Peter?" I asked before we actually got started.

Something small climbed into my hand. I flinched and almost threw that something small away from me, but it was only Peter in his rat form. Gang's all here plus me. James, Sirius, and Remus started to walk

"Sirius?"

"Hmm?"

"Thank you." He didn't need to be reminded why.

"...no problem, Paredes."

"And Sirius?"

"Yeah?"

"Does this make me the first girl to ride James Potter?"

Remus laughed so hard he nearly fell and hurt himself. James snorted sharply and tossed his head, his version of a laugh in his stag state.

"Oh, shut up," Sirius said. He tried to make it serious (ha) but I could hear him smile when he said it.


	9. Animal

_Animal_ by Neon Trees

I awoke to Lily, Tina, Laure, and Leila at the end of my infirmary bed. From left to right they held homework I had missed, flowers, chocolate, and a book.

"Hullo, you lot," I smiled weakly.

"We heard you were in here because you broke your leg," Lily said as she came around to put my missed assignments and Tina's flowers on my side table. Leila did the same with her book and Laure's chocolate. "How'd that happen, by the way?"

"I tripped," I said without skipping a beat. It wasn't a lie, either. "Besides, I'm better now. I had to take some Skelegro because the break was clean but still a break. I can walk," I assured Leila as she tried to help me hop out of bed.

"Ow, _shit_-" I swore. Of course I was proved wrong by my traitorous leg. I guess that just because it was healed now didn't mean it wasn't still going to hurt. "Give me a couple hours. I'll see you lot at lunch."

They nodded, understanding. "Hope you feel better before then, Georgie." Then they left.

I looked at Tina's flowers. They were white daisies; very plain but very pretty. I reached for my missed homework and chocolates, and started on them. I would treat myself with the book later.

Around 10 AM Madame Pomfrey said I could leave.

"But nothing too strenuous, sweetheart," she warned. "Not everyone breaks their legs by just 'tripping'."

I nodded. As I gathered my belongings and dressed into regular clothes, Regulus came in.

"Oh, I'm sorry," he said. I had just pulled off my black jumper in exchange for a plain t-shirt, but hadn't exactly been able to put it on before he saw.

"You don't look sorry," I responded dryly, yanking my shirt on quickly. He blushed.

"I...came to visit, 'cause Lily and Tina and Leila said you were here, but I see you're about to leave," Regulus said. I didn't know how to react. I didn't know him that well except for tripping him and the one Potions project. Even Sirius didn't stick around last night...so why did his brother visit?

"I also came to ask you about som-do you want me to hold that?"

"What?"

"The flowers, your bag, the classwork, the book?" I had eaten the chocolates for breakfast so they were non-existant now. Shoutout to Laure Beckkett for being the real MVP.

"Er, sure?" Regulus took my things from me and we walked out together.

"Anyways, I originally came to ask you about the Cupiditas," Regulus whispered. He had to bend down so I could hear, but his words made me freeze. I had completely forgotten about it.

"...what about it?"

"The real question is why you took it," he said quietly. "I know you did. You were the only other person in the room when I talked to Slughorn after class. I wouldn't have noticed if he hadn't started to search for it." He was silent for a moment. The only sounds we could hear were us walking; everyone else was in class.

After a while I said, "I was...curious, about it. I personally have no intention of using it myself, but I would like to research it and its composition. Preferably with it by my side."

Regulus nodded like he understood. "Fair enough."

The bells suddenly rang for class to end for lunch.

"I guess I better get going then..."

"Yeah...see you in Potions, then?" Regulus handed me my things as he said this.

"Yeah, sure."

We nodded respectfully to each other before getting caught up in the waves of people who desperately wanted to eat.

"Georgie, would you mind if we spoke for a minute?"

I looked up from my classwork and there stood James, hands in pockets. Behind him were Remus, Peter, and Sirius.

"TO finally explain what the hell happened last night? Oh, sure. Where to?" I snapped. James's eyes widened and he put a finger to his lips to shush me. I rolled my eyes and ignored him; e were the only ones in the Common Room anyway.

"Our room, actually," Sirius said loftily.

"I'm afraid not, James. One, since boys aren't allowed in the girls' dorm it's probably the same vice versa, and two, because I'm a Prefect. I have to set a good example for the younger ones." I applauded myself for remembering.

"I don't think you understand how urgent this is, G," James warned.

"I do, I just think-"

"PADFOOT, GRAB HER! NOW!"

I cried as Sirius scooped me up for the second time that day and ran towards the stairwell. "_Bloody_-" Sirius clapped a hand over my mouth. I was tempted to lick his hand like with James, but decided against it. It would be a little weird.

The rest of the boys raced behind us, and Sirius nearly kicked open the door. The boys filed in quickly after him, and Peter shut the door quietly. Sirius set me down. James was pushed forward by the other two and cleared his throat before he spoke.

"Now, last night you witnessed something that no one else but us, Dumbledore, and McGonagall know about. Remus is a werewolf. We, as you have already figured out, are unregistered Animagi. This is because we are trying to make things a little less hard on Moony on full moons, alright? He is one of our best mates, and we don't think anyone should go through that hell alone. We decided that last summer we were going to be unreigstered Animagi because we hated how awful Remus looked and felt, and how much pain he was in. He was so afraid to hurt someone, but because we're Animagi, we can be there with him."

It was a little frightening to hear how considerate, sweet, sincere, (a lot of of other things James usually isn't) James was being.

Remus cut in. "Last night's full moon was the first time I'd ever broken out of the Shrieking Shack at the base of the Whomping Willow. It's something that I regret and I can't believe I put you in danger..."

He shut his eyes tightly and turned around again. Peter patted his back awkwardly.

"We are going to ask you to promise not to tell anyone. Ever," James continued. I raised an eyebrow. "Like hell I'm going to tell anyone! This is one of Remus and your guys' dark, not to mention illegal, secrets. I say one word and you guys are off to Azkaban!"

"Yes, Georgiana, we know. That's also why I'm going to ask you to become an Animagus as well."


	10. The Mighty Fall

_The Mighty Fall_ by Fall Out Boy

Remus was the first to speak. Quite angrily, I might add.

"No. _Absolutely_ not."

"Moony, I think-"

"Don't '_Moony_' me, you prat. We discussed telling her, yes. We discussed having her sign a mgically binding contract, yes. We did not discuss asking her to become an Animagus! Hell, ever since you got the idea to change for me _I_ was against it! I am not going to let you put one another person I care for in danger!"

Sirius butt in. "Moony's right, mate. This is a mistake, and not what we talked about. We don't need anymore illegal Animagi in this school, much less _her_. She forgets she's a Prefect sometimes, but there is no way she's going to forget she's an Animagus."

I bristled at his tone when he said 'her'. As if I was a dirty animal.

Oh, the irony!

"Did you see how well she handled yesterday? Wouldn't that take a load off if it was like that every month?" James reminded him.

Remus growled. "I almost _attacked_ her yesterday! How on _Earth_ would you call that-

Sirius added to the increasing noise, saying, "I wouldn't really call it _handling_-"

"OI! ENOUGH!"

The three boys stopped, stunned at my rather loud command.

"In the end, this is my decision, right?"

They nodded reluctantly.

"Then I'll think about it," I said finally. Remus and Sirius groaned.

"I love you," James grinned, so happy that he even gave me a peck on the forehead. I recoiled from him.

"Don't expect your answer soon," I grumbled as I left their dorm. When I closed the door behind me, the arguing commenced. I pitied Peter then. I could just imagine him standing there with no idea what to do.

In Transfiguration the next day, James sat next to me before Lily got to class. I cringed when I began to imagine what her reaction would be when she did.

"James, you better be quick if you have to talk to me. Lily's going to explode when she gets here-"

"I need your help planning a party," he said quickly.

"A _party_," I repeated cautiously. He nodded.

"It's for Sirius. It's his birthday soon, and-"

"Sirius is older than me?"

James ignored me and kept talking. "-I need help organizing everything, the music, the food, the drinks, the people..."

"You've already got the basics covered! What do you need my help for?"

"He can't know that I'm doing it, so I'll need a little help..."

The real question hung in the air. _Will you plan it __**for**__ me_?

"Excuse me, _Potter_, I believe you're sitting in my seat," an angry, high voice interrupted. James smiled winningly when he faced Lily.

"I'm terribly sorry, my dearest Lily-flower," he gushed. She scowled at him as he stood up.

"I'll...think about it, James," I told him. He smiled even more when he left.

"Think about what. Georgiana? Are you going to help them plan a prank?!" Lily said nosily. "You're a prefect!"

"Of course I'm not going to help them with a prank. You know me better than that."

What on Earth did Sirius like? What foods? What drinks? What music? What people?

I wasn't sure if he even liked me!

"Sirius likes salted caramel milkshakes with bits of Honeydukes chocolate in them," a familiar masculine voice whispered. Afraid it was Sirius, I let out a sigh of relief when I saw it was only Regulus. We had decided to keep our seats in Potions; even from here I could here Leila laughing over Slughorn's droning attempt at a lesson. I quickly put away the parchment chart.

"Um, thanks, Regulus," I said sheepishly. He nodded solemnly, not at all the unsure boy who had attempted to visit me yesterday in the infirmary.

"What's that for?"

I huffed in resignation; no matter how much Sirius hated his family, there was no way I was keeping his surprise birthday party a secret from his brother.

"Sirius's birthday is coming up soon, and James and I are planning it. I think he would've asked Peter or Remus, but they had a row earlier so I don't think either of them would have been in the mood," I explained. Regulus bit his lip (which I found just as attractive on him as I did James; did that make me a slag?) in thought before he asked, "Could I...possibly, I don't know, you don't have to let me...but, could I, help?"

I blinked, slightly stunned. I certainly didn't expect that.

"Like I said, you don't have to let me," he said quickly.

"But what if I want you to? I have no idea who Sirius really is as a person, and you're-" I stopped midsentence. What if Regulus didn't know either? I had heard rumors that the Black family were actually evil people; some said that when Sirius had come home first year, his parents put him under the Cruciatus curse for at least a few days. At home, he hadn't been allowed to talk to Regulus, their perfect, one and only true son, for years after that.

"Just because we don't talk now doesn't mean we didn't talk then," Regulus said softly. It was as if he could read my mind. A little scary. I scooted away from him in case he actually could.

The idea appealed to me; I knew next to nothing about Sirius, except that he was an illegal Animagus (and a literal dog). And I was pretty sure that was the worst and most intimate thing that I could know about him. Yet his own brother wanted to help me! Albeit a little estranged, but his brother. The real kicker was how James would react. Or Remus, or Peter, or, hell, even Sirius. But then again, since when did I care what they thought? One of them was going to be much too pleased about my answer to James's offer.

"Alright. You may help me."

"...what?"

"Did I stutter? All. Right. You. May. Help. Me."

His face lit up into a real smile, complete with teeth and...were those dimples? He had nice teeth. Straight, square, and white. His dimples, needless to say, were adorable.

I stopped thinking about how nice he looked right then and there. Nope. Regulus Black did not look nice at all. I had to stop; I couldn't let myself get emotionally involved in the one-sided manner. Especially if he was a dangerous person that, arguably worse, looked and sounded a little too much like Sirius.


	11. Birthday

A/N: Hullo, everyone! Bless your souls for continuing to read and review this story. Much appreciated! I just wanted to say that this story was started on a break in which I was able to write and update very quickly, having all the time in the world. As school has started again, I am sorry to inform you that update may not come as quickly. 1) Because of school, and 2) I have a very important school function coming this weekend. This, I will be putting this story near the bottom of priorities list. I'll despise it, as I'd rather be writing this than moving, passionate speeches about foreign and domestic government policy, but to each his one. Much love for reading and reviewing, enjoy this chapter (so sorry it's horribly short and sloppy!), and I'll update as soon as I can! :)

_Birthday _by Katy Perry

I was alone in the library when Severus approached me.

"This is for you," he said, handing me a thickly folded piece of parchment.

"What is it-"

"-for? I don't know, and to be quite honest, I really don't care. Regulus just asked me to give it to you for his wretched prat of a brother. Leila said I'd find you here at this hour," he muttered.

I bit my lip to hide a laugh. No wonder Leila and Lily kept him around. Little bit of a creep, yeah, but his honesty and sharpness was refreshing.

"Thanks, Sev. You don't mind I call you that, right? Only Lily and Leila do, so-"

He paused. "No. I don't."

I nodded, and he turned away to leave. But he stopped again.

"And Paredes?"

"Yes?"

"You're a decent enough person. You're part-veela. Take care of yourself and do a hell of a lot better than Black, alright?"

I blinked, a bit puzzled. "Alright, Sev."

He nodded and kept on walking. When the library doors shut behind him, I groaned.

Don't you think it would've helped if he had specified _which_ Black?

"I really can't believe Regulus gave you this," Remus said, his eyes wide in surprise as they trailed over Regulus's neat print, detailing his favorite foods, music, and drinks. He had opened up when I had asked for help on a History of Magic assignment. I didn't need it; Merlin knows I'm better at the most useless subject ever taught than he is.

"Neither can I," I murmured. It was truly wonderful. And a little suspicious.

"All we need are the people," James added as he walked into the Common Room and skimmed over the list. "Really trying to figure out why a git like Regulus just gave you something likes. You don't suppose he fancies you, do you?"

"Watch your mouth," I snapped sharply. No one jokes about anything like that.

"Coming from a bird who swears like a sailor," a smooth voice purred. Instantly recognizing it, I shoved the parchment into my school bag and we all but dispersed in a well timed manner.

"Hullo, Padfoot," Remus said nonchalantly. Sirius sauntered in lazily and raised an eyebrow more nicely shaped than most girls'.

"I know you lot are planning something. You're not very good at being discreet," he said flatly. "Oh, and Paredes, have you got a moment?

My eyes widened a considerable amount; anymore and I would've looked like Pippa's twin, but with brown eyes instead of gray.

"Sure. What do you need?" I asked as I got up to speak to him. He walked further and further away, climbing up the boys' stairs even. He didn't stop until we were halfway up to the dorms; he didn't blink even once when he asked his next question:

"Would you like to go to Hogsmeade with me?"


	12. Womanizer

Womanizer by Britney Spears

A/N: Guess who's back at it again? :)

"Excuse me?"

Sirius blinked then. "Did I stutter?"

I stepped away from him, a hot, embarassed feeling creeping up my body. "I don't really know why-"

"I've been meaning to...apologize. 'Cause of our row, y'know? I was a bit unfair, and a prat-"

"Really-"

"-we both know there's no way in hell it's a date (ouch...), but...I was thinking I could grab you a butterbeer, or something. Like at Honeydukes? James says you like their chocolate bars."

Oh.

You had to admit it was a rather nice gesture, even for something as silly as a row. I had actually forgotten about our fight, to be completely honest.

"Oh. Uh, well, sure, I guess," I said quietly. A relieved smile lit up his face.

"Thanks, Georgie." He turned to go up to his dorms, but I stopped him.

"You don't seem like the kind of person to apologize, much less take me to Hogsmeade for it," I said flatly.

"My uncle Alphard taught me to always apologize to a woman. You never really know when you would need her company next," he said quietly. I opened his mouth to comment on his very wise uncle Alphard, but he closed the dorm door behind him before I could say anything.

* * *

><p>"So I hear you're planning a party," Leila muttered to me in History of Magic the next day. I felt a blush creep up my cheeks.<p>

"Where on Earth did you get that idea?" I tried to say nonchalantly. Leila rolled her eyes at me.

"Regulus and Severus aren't very good at keeping secrets," Leila whispered. "So far, I'm the only one that know but...Georgie, really? Sirius Black of all people! I understand he's in your House and all, but he's dangerous! What did I tell you about him?"

I felt my eyebrows shoot straight up my forehead. "Hang on! I think it's unfair of you to be saying that to me, especially since I know you're friends with Severus..."

She scoffed. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Severus is a cool person, yeah, but have you seen his normal company?"

Leila's eyebrows furrowed as she said, "I talk to his normal company, they're alright-"

"Pureblood extremists are 'alright'?!"

Her eyes widened, then narrowed. She turned away from me and stared right through Professor Binns. Angry, I got up and sat next to Remus. Leila didn't even turn around.

Today was the day I was going to tell James my decision, ever since he had asked me a month earlier about becoming an Animagus.

"James?" I whispered to him in Transfiguration. He looked up from his notes and raised an eyebrow; it was an invitation for me to continue to speak.

"Yes," I continued. He blinked, confused, then a slow smile spread across his face. He curved his fingers and thumbs and made them touch: a heart.

* * *

><p>By Potions I was already missing Leila. She felt the same way, because she tackled me as soon as she saw me enter class. Her arms were wrapped so tightly around my torso that I felt that I actually couldn't breathe.<p>

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry," she muttered into my hair.

"It's alright," I muttered back. She went back to her seat and we didn't talk about the pureblood extremists anymore. Until, of course, Regulus walked in. Leila made an awkward noise, quite similar to Remus's, when Regulus seemed to unconsciously slither around my seat and drag his arm across the back of it, almost so that it looked like he had placed his arm around my shoulders. I backed my chair up in response.

"You get my lists?" he asked as he settled down into his own seat.

I nodded. "They're a great help. I'm going to pick up some of the things in Hogsmeade this weekend." I tried not to blush as I remembered who exactly I was going to Hogsmeade with.

Regulus's face lit up. "Speaking of Hogsmeade! I finally figured out that sweet smell from the Cupiditas!"

I wanted to know. "Oh, really? What was it?"

"It was sweet, right? Like candyfloss? I figured out it smells exactly the way Honeydukes's cotton candy clouds do!"

I froze; I had bought my favorite perfume from a couture shop in London. It was called Candy Clouds.


	13. Kiss

A/N: Wow...over 20 reviews for my story? Aw, shucks, I appreciate it. I really do. Reviews keep me writing, and you readers reading my writing makes me happy. Here's a cookie. (: :)

_Kiss _by Prince

There were times that I liked the fact that Sirius was slightly ashamed of me and didn't tell anyone that we were going to Hogsmeade together. Like how I had nearly forgotten about it too, had Lily not eyed me as I sat in the windowsill.

"Oi, Georgie!"

"What, Lily?"

"Aren't you going to Hogsmeade?"

That five word question made me drop my book. "Oh, Merlin, you're right!"

I started to frantically look for clothes in my dresser that were neither dirty school uniform or dirty Quidditch robes; I finally found a pair of plain black tight pants (I've had them since third year), a large, white wool jumper and heeled combat boots. It would have to do. After all, it was just Sirius.

I ripped off my uniform and hurriedly replaced it with my jumper, pants, and boots.

Lily gushed. "Oh, I rather like that outfit on you, Georgie. Are you meeting anyone at Hogsmeade?" She wiggled her eyebrows at me as she said this.

I snorted. "Because people would ask me out when there are people like you and Jemma Haines."

Lily, irritatingly enough, was a very pretty redheaded girl. Not a ginger, but actually red haired. Leila thought she dyed it, it was so vibrant. Lily was slightly stuck up, too, so it was funny to see her trying to keep herself from laughing out loud. This was accomplished when her luminous green eyes were more open and happy than her mouth was.

And Jemma Haines...what could anyone say about her, other than the fact she was too pretty to be allowed to be out in public and make everyone else feel bad about themselves. Her long hair was straight and swung from side to side when she walked. Her gray eyes were clear and sharp, giving off the idea that she was aloof. But when she smiled, her eyes smiled too. Not to mention Jemma's to die-for athletic form, honed and strung out from playing on Hufflepuff's Quidditch team.

Lily blushed at the compliment. "You say that like you're ugly Georgie."

I snorted again. It was very unbecoming, a small voice in my head said. "That's because I am ugly. In here," I responded, pointing at my chest. She shook her head at me with a small smile.

"You look lovely anyway. I think you should leave your hair down and put on a little lip balm, it's a bit chilly,"she said as she left the room.

Huh. I'll try that.

* * *

><p>I came downstairs into the Great Hall before the walk to the town and immediately bumped into James's back.<p>

"Wotcher, love," he said as he turned around. He did a double take when he realized it was me.

"Wow! Georgie! You look great," he said, surprised. "You _smell_ great."

"Thanks, James," I said flatly. "Do you know where Sirius-"

I was suddenly lifted up into the air by, thank goodness, hands, and not a spell. The only problem was figuring out whose hands they belonged to. The person hoisted me onto their shoulders, and I recognized the person's spicy and slightly sweaty scent.

"JAMESON CHARLES POTTER, YOU PUT ME DOWN RIGHT THIS INSTANT!" I shouted. He laughed and broke into a run. I was confused and began to get slightly motion sick as he ran further and further away from our group and all the way into Hogsmeade.

"I found out Sirius asked you to Hogsmeade," he said as I bounced up and down his shoulder. "So, I decided to kidnap you before he could get to you."

I pulled a face. "What would that accomplish?"

"Nothing, really. Just make him a bit mad for you, is all."

I did a double take at what James just uttered. "Excuse me?"

"You really do smell amazing," he said quickly, trying to change the subject. He even put me down on the ground to satiate my anger. "You smell like-"

"Honeydukes?"

We turned and there stood Sirius. His eyebrows were raised as he eyed my outfit.

"You look nice." So did he. Trousers, black trainers, a plain black t-shirt and a leather jacket. It might have been valid to say that he looked even more put together than I did. He held out an arm, as if he was escorting me to a ball and not a candy store in the local village.

"Shall we?" he said with a surprisingly playful, not mean, smirk. I glanced at it before walking quickly ahead of him to get to Honeydukes.

"You just made the biggest mistake of your life, Sirius Black! Not all the money in the world could pay for how much I would want inside Honeydukes!" I teased as I broke into a run. He jogged to keep up, and he was already smiling when we both arrived in the store. The welcome bell rang as the door opened, and a warm, sweet smell filled my nose.

"Hullo, love! What can I get you today?" a tall, elfin blonde girl said as she appeared from behind the surprisingly uncrowded aisles of painted shelves. Brightly colored candies sat in large jars that were just waiting to be emptied by yours truly.

"Nothing for me, as of now. I'm just here for my girl. She knows exactly what she wants," Sirius said firmly and rather politely. I had disappeared almost immediately into the shelves to admire the Honeydukes goods and grabbed a basket; I hadn't even acknowledged the Honeydukes worker when I saw her. Oops.

"Oh, alright," I heard the blonde girl say. She sounded disappointed. Of course she did. An attractive boy had just refused her help and mentioned he's 'just here for my girl'.

Wait, did he just call me _his girl_?

"Sirius, darling," I drawled. "Come help me reach something."

He came when I called, just like a dog.

**Oh, the irony!**

"Yeah?"

"What did you just tell the Honeydukes girl I was?"

Sirius blinked. "My girl. You are, really. My girl of the moment."

"Oh." It worried me that I was both disappointed and relieved. Sirius looked up to change the subject. "What did you need me to reach? Are all of your favorite sweets up there?"

I stuck out my tongue at him. Instead of rolling his eyes at me, he did the same. He crossed his eyes, too.

I snorted, but it became a fit of laughter. For about five minutes I was laughing at him like a crazy person. All I got in return was a chuckle.

When I finished, I looked up and found that he was right. For some reason, the chocolate frogs were all the way at the top, along with the jar of only candyfloss flavored jellybeans and Honeydukes dark chocolate bars. Damn it.

"You prat, you're actually right," I grumbled. "Give me a lift so I can reach."

"What?" He turned to me so fast his hair bounced.

"You heard me. Put me on your shoulder or something so I can grab my sweets," I commanded. Reluctantly, Sirius picked me up as if I weighed nothing (and not how I felt like 1,000,000 kilos) and set me down on his shoulder. I could reach my favorite sweets easily at this height.

"You know, Paredes, your arse is huge for someone so sma-OI!" I had smacked him to shut him up.

"What was that for?!" he asked. I took three Honeydukes dark chocolate bars from the shelf before answering, "The real question is what are you doing telling me my arse is huge?"

"Well, it was going to being a compliment..."

"Bull," I muttered softly. Like most girls, I was sensitive about my weight, and it came in the form of mostly fat in the worst places to gather: in my upper front and lower behind, if you know what I mean. I began to put back two of the bars, but Sirius smacked my hand in a way so that the bars felt into my basket below.

"No, really. I don't get why you and every other girl I've...er..._talked to_...barely eat. It's not healthy. I, personally, find people more attractive if they're healthy-looking, not like they're deprived of food. But I'm not saying 'eat for the sake of boys'; eat for the sake of yourself," he said. _Aw_, _Sirius_, I thought. _That was very sweet_.

"I know you like candyfloss jellybeans, Paredes, treat yourself because I'm paying for it anyway," he reminded me with a shrug of his shoulder so I felt it.

"Oi, alright, don't get your boxers in a twist," I snapped. I grabbed a paper bag and opened the jellybean jar, filling the bag halfway with candyfloss beans. In a separate paper bag I filled it so much with chocolate-covered salted caramel that a twist-tie was the only thing that could close it.

"Done," I said, nudging him with my foot. He lifted me off his shoulder gently and set me down on the ground. We walked toward the counter and I set my candyfloss beans on the counter with the Honeydukes chocolate bars. The Honeydukes girl rung me up for ten Sickles and Sirius took out his wallet, giving her ten Sickles and six Knuts for tax. She wrote something on a piece of parchment, looked furtively at me as I moved to a separate self-checkout counter, and slid it to Sirius. I watched his eyes widen when he read what was on the parchment as I paid two Sickles and one Knut for my other paper bag with the chocolate-covered salted-caramel. I returned to Sirius and tugged on his arm to let him know we could go. The girl winked at him and bit her lip as we left.

"She gave you her calling number, didn't she?" I said flatly. Sirius and I weren't dating, but some people had no manners or respect. Sirius looked straight ahead and said nothing, the parchment still in his hand. I sighed.

"Three Broomsticks then?"

He nodded, and we walked in silence. Sirius suddenly walked much closer to me and I noticed when he ripped the parchment in half and let it fall to the ground. My heart warmed a little when he did that.

What I _didn't_ notice, however, was when he slipped his cold, bare hand in mine.


	14. Kiss the Girl

_Kiss the Girl_ from The Little Mermaid

When Sirius and I walked into the Three Broomsticks, I felt that something had a cold, iron grip on my left hand. The hold wasn't particularly hard or tight; it felt like it was just frozen onto it, really. I looked down at nearly screamed.

"_Sirius Black_," I growled. "_What are you doing holding my hand_?"

He glanced down and looked back at me with a sweet, innocent smile. "Your hand was warm. Plus, I wanted to hold onto you just in case you decided to run again. No point in losing you."

I felt an embarrassed warmth streak across my neck and cheeks and willed my blush to not be obvious._ NO NO NO NO NO! I cannot like Sirius Black, of all the available people in Hogwarts!_ Especially since a couple people thought I was leading his brother on...

"Cute," I said with a slight sneer. I snatched my hand out of his and marched toward Madame Rosmerta at corner, much too eager to not be seen with Sirius and have people get the absolutely wrong idea. Sirius went off to find a seat.

"Hullo, Ms. Georgie, what can I get you?" she asked. I've been coming here with Leila and our other friends since third year and was quite used to us goofing off in the corner booth. She eyed Sirius with a smug smirk. I rolled my eyes again; I really thought Rosmerta had a lot more class than that, but I guess I was wrong.

"A slightly sweeter Butterbeer and a salted caramel milkshake, please," I said, tearing my eyes away from the two. James always said that Rosmerta was a bit of a cougar ever since last year, even though she was only five years our senior. She didn't like breaking the law though, so she usually settled on making eyes at him, Sirius, and sometimes even Remus when it suited her fancy.

She nodded at my request, swaying her hips a little bit more than usual as she worked. I stifled a laugh through a cough. Was she serious?

I turned around again and saw that James, Remus, and Peter had joined Sirius. Damn it.

Rosmerta handed me my butterbeer and salted caramel milkshake with a gracious smile, and I paid her five Sickles. I tore open a Honeydukes bar and broke off the chocolate in little pieces to sprinkle all over the milkshake. I put the bar back in its bag and walked toward the boys.

"...and Deena Halecliff tried to 'bump into me' at the bookstore again," Remus was saying as I approached from behind. James laughed loudly, so much that he nearly knocked Sirius's and my drinks out of my hand.

"Watch it, you git," I said as I successfully managed to spill only a little bit of my butterbeer on the floor.

"Sorry, love, I didn't see-Georgie! What's been going on?" James said with a smirk.

"Nothing much, really. Sirius, this is yours," I said as I placed the milkshake down in front of him. His eyebrows furrowed as he inspected it, and took a small sip. His eyes widened as he enthusiastically drank more of it. I was grateful for how large the glass was; should keep him quiet for a few minutes. "So what's this I hear about Deena Halecliff?"

Deena, though a very sweet girl from Hufflepuff, was just a little bit mad for Remus Lupin. Her and twenty-something other girls were each part of his unofficial and unauthorized fan club*. James and Sirius had fan clubs like Remus's as well, but with a more considerable amount of more girls and in Sirius's case, some boys. I would assume Peter would have one too, but he wasn't conventionally attractive in personality or looks. He was very sweet, though, when he wanted to be.

Anyways, the fanclubs. Even if you thought you weren't under the Marauder spell, you were. Everyone was, with a few exceptions.

Remus wrinkled his nose at me. "Shove off."

"Well, we better get going," James said slowly, rising out his seat. "Don't want to, ah, _intrude_."

He winked when purred the last word. I gave him the middle finger.

The three boys left, leaving Sirius and I alone. With seats finally at the booth, I was finally able to sit next to him.

After a silence, Sirius opened his mouth. "How did you know I liked salted-caramel milkshakes? With Honeydukes chocolate bits too?"

I felt my cheeks and neck color again. "James might've mentioned it once or twice. Oh, and this is for you, too." I handed him the chocolate-covered salted-caramel from Honeydukes. He opened the paper bag tentatively and he smiled. A real, genuine smile with his great teeth and his single dimple. I have only one dimple, too. My stomach churned when I realized his smile was all too similar to Regulus's.

"I thought you were the one who was supposed to be treated today. I was a complete prat," he said, breaking a caramel in half. He offered one half to me and I took it. He put the other half in his mouth and shut his eyes to savor the sweet melting on his tongue.

"You are a complete prat."

He laughed at this, then grimaced as he remembered our row. "No, really. I was horrible to you. 'You act more like a slag that throws herself at James more than the Quaffle?' I can't believe I told you that, of all people. You said so yourself: you're the most virginal person I've ever met. Couldn't even hold your hand without you being disgusted."

This was his form of an apology. It was surprisingly decent to say the least. So, I have him my form of forgiveness.

"I've said worse. A slag who threw myself at James more than the Quaffle? C'mon, Sirius, I know you've better insults than that."

He smiled genuinely at me again. Then he started to lean in closer to me, his eyes slowly closing...

A/N: Yikes.

*I know the fan club thing is overused and cliché and just present in almost every Marauder story, but it is important. I'm attempting to use the fan clubs as an important part of the plot. If it doesn't work out, though, they'll end up serving as a half-hearted attempt at comic relief.

Love you all, and thank you so so _so_ much for reading and reviewing!


	15. Just a Friend

_Just a Friend_ by Biz Markie

It took me a few seconds to realize what he _thought_ he was doing. I, however, was not having it, and stopped him with his milkshake. He opened his eyes immediately to find his lips on his cold glass and not on me. His face flushed pink.

"Oh, Merlin, I'm so sorry, I thought-"

"Yeah, well, you thought wrong," I muttered. "Thanks for today, I guess."

I got up and left, taking my butterbeer with me. I don't look back.

* * *

><p>I was so confused. I couldn't say I was angry, because I wasn't. I couldn't say I was sad, because I wasn't. My stomach churned again and I sweated through my jumper; it was then that I realized that I was ashamed.<p>

I walked alone back to the castle to stew in my feelings.

* * *

><p>The castle had mostly the first and second years, but even then their presence couldn't be felt. They were up in their dorms, all taking well deserved naps; their biggest concern was probably what they were going to eat at the dinner feast tonight. I envied them.<p>

I walked aimlessly through the halls, just wishing for a place to be alone. I'd go to the dorms, but I would be risking chancing upon fellow fifth year Gryffindors.

Yet I turned at the sound of stone moving and found a door that I was certain wasn't there before. Curious, I looked back and forth, left and right before opening the door.

It was homey. A fireplace going, a few beige plush furniture pieces, a rug. Maybe a thick blanket for me to cry in.

I started to walk towards the sofa, and stopped when I noticed a head of dark hair already occupying it.

"Regulus?"

The head turned and I immediately regretted saying anything.

Regulus looked displeased, as if I had added in the wrong ingredient in a potion during class.

"How'd your _date_ with my brother go?"

I angrily threw my butterbeer glass on the floor, strangely relishing the sound that the glass made as it broke into hundreds of pieces. I stomped on the shards for good measure as I got up in Regulus's face.

"_How'd your date with my brother go_?" I repeated mockingly. "_How'd it go_? I'll _tell_ you how it went, you moronic arse. First of all, it wasn't a date. He had called me a slag and taking me to Hogsmeade was his way of apology. Second-"

"He called you a slag?" he looked genuinely upset, but I hissed at him, "Let me finish, you git. _Second_, the girl at Honeydukes flirted with him, then he tried to hold my hand. Third, Madam Rosmerta from the town flirted with him. Then he tried to snog me!"

I breathed heavily, the frustration gone. Regulus watched me intently. Remembering him came the shame.

"I...and...but it...just," I stuttered, feeling a familiar prickle in my nose and eyes. "It doesn't make sense. He's rude and demeaning and presumptuous, he's called me a slag, he never really looks at me straight...even though he seems decent, he's a bully and truly despises me...I don't understand..." I had begun to cry then, with those unpleasant short breaths that accompany crying to break up my words. I was surprised Regulus could still understand what I

After a few seconds of just watching me cry, he held out his arms and pulled me into him for a very awkward hug. He was very stiff.

"If he dislikes you for any reason, it's his problem. He is not allowed to make you feel horrid, understand?" Regulus said slowly. It was lame advice-no, scratch that, it wasn't advice at all, because I already knew this, but his attempt to comfort me was commendable.

In one of those post-sobbing, long sighs, I turned my head into his chest. He smelled nice. Like smoked wood*.

A/N: *But _not_ like the 'strangely familiar spicy/cool scent' Georgie smelled in the Cupiditas in chapter five? Hmm...


	16. Harlem

A/N: Shoutout to BooksMoviesFandoms and Dancing-Souls for being the real MVPs and reviewing for every or almost every chapter. I really appreciate it. You, too, unnamed guests and rare reviewers!

_Harlem _by the New Politics

I opened my eyes to darkness. I began to panic, but immediately turned my head and felt relieved. I could see that I was in a room with a fireplace and plush furniture and a rug. I was probably in the Common Room. Then the pillow underneath me shifted.

I jolted and found myself on top of Regulus Black, who was sound asleep and silent. I sort of remembered where I was and what happened earlier, so I glanced down to check that both of our clothes were on (they were, by the way). I tried to shift myself in a way so that I would not disturb him, but somehow he had trapped me by wrapping his arms around me torso. It didn't seem like he was going to let go anytime soon. I moved again, and felt something hard poking my thigh.

It was just my wand.

Still stuck in the Black trap (as I'd thought to call it), I gently pried his arms off of me and slowly slid off of him. I landed on the floor.

"Where're you going, love?" he muttered in his sleep.

I didn't answer, and he didn't seem to need one. Grabbing the thick blanket from the other chair, I placed it on top of him in an attempt to have it mimic my weight. I thought it worked when he wrapped his arms over it again.

I tiptoed over to the door, opened it, and left.

A giggle left my mouth when I was outside the door because I thought that I guess you could say...

_...I slept with Regulus Black._

Behind me, stone moved again. When I turned around, the door was gone.

* * *

><p>It was only late afternoon of the same day, so I hadn't missed dinner. However, the Common Room had a surprise waiting for me when I arrived.<p>

James occupied the whole sofa with his arms across its back. He smiled sheepishly.

"Padfoot told me what happened," he uttered softly. I blinked and turned around to leave. James grabbed my wrist.

"He feels terrible, you know."

I blinked again.

He sighed. "Bit of a git move, really. Your idea of what was happening was completely different from what he thought was happening."

"No kidding." I walked around the back of the sofa and sat down next to him.

"He's bit of bully towards you, isn't he?"

I nodded. James, instead of just moving on, actually got angry at this.

"Dick," he growled. "I'll talk to him later. But for now, we need to talk about you becoming," he looked left and right to make sure we were the only ones in the Common Room before finishing, "an _Animagus_."

My heart beat faster in excitement while my brain tried to reason that this was a bad, very bad, idea.

"Are you sure you want to do this?"

I smiled at him. "Hell yeah, I do."

* * *

><p>The first step in becoming an Animagus was figuring out my Patronus. Thus, James was teaching me how to conjure one, right outside the castle in that little ring of stone walls*.<p>

"_Expecto patronum_," he said calmly for the fourth or fifth time. He demonstrated a downward slash to generate a Patronus. We had probably been outside for more than two hours; the sun was close to fully setting and the most I had been able to produce was a feeble white wisp.

"Georgie, what memory are you using?"

I looked up at James, who seemed deeper in thought than he would ever be in his entire life.

He had told me to use a happy memory, to facilitate the power through my wand. It was how Remus had taught him how to do it.

"The first time I caught the Snitch," I answered quickly. I had been happy then, but the real memory I'd been using was how I first felt in third year when I _thought_ I liked James Potter. Laugh if you want, but those feelings were nice.

"I think you should use something a little bit stronger, a different memory maybe. Moony always said to change it up to get different results. He compared it to Muggle science," James said.

I nodded, and proceeded to search through the recesses of my mind to find the perfect memory. When I thought I had found the best memory to use, I kept it in mind as I said, "_Expecto patronum_!" with that quick, downward slash. A large, beautiful white animal burst forth from the tip of my wand. I marveled at my success while James squinted at it.

"Georgie, I think your Patronus might be a wolf or a dog of some sort..."

* * *

><p>Later, Leila and I were researching information in the library about Patronuses. James found it strange that he couldn't truly decipher the animal and that it was similar to another person he knew.<p>

"Find anything?"

She looked up from a large, musty book. "Actually, I did. There's a section about," she squinted, "...matching and complementary Patronuses?"

Yes. That is exactly what I wanted. "Oh, really? Would you mind reading it a bit of it out loud?"

Leila nodded. "Of course."

She read, "Patronuses, much like a person's character, can match or be a complement to someone else's. For example, if someone has engaged in a close platonic, romantic, or even a simply sexual relationship with another, that person's Patronus might change to match the exact animal or even become the counterpart." She paused, then let out a low whistle.

"Yikes. I better not be shagging Remus Lupin any time soon; my Patronus could end up being something like a rabbit, am I right?" she giggled. My eyes widened as was she said registered in my mind as something...alarming.

"...hang on. Do you _fancy _Remus Lupin?"

Leila quickly turned away from me, but I saw her ears turn pink.

"You little git! How long have you fancied him?"

Her ears turned pinker. "Erm...since third year?"

"Leila...Hailey...Kaplan..." each pause punctuated with a smack of a book, "you're my best friend and you didn't tell me you fancied one of _my_ friends! For two years, no less! I could set you up!"

Her eyes widened and she shook her head fearfully. "Dear Merlin, no! We don't talk enough to be considered friends!"

I wiggled my eyebrows at her. "Who said anything about talking?"

She huffed and hit me with a book this time. "Take your young mind out of the gutter, will you?" She tried to look threatening, but it, of course, didn't work. She even reached out and put her hand on my arm to ensure my well-being.

*I was thinking of the place where Hermione punched Draco Malfoy in _The Prisoner of Azkaban_, but I wasn't sure of its exact name, so I tried to describe it to the best of my ability, haha.


	17. Young Volcanoes

A/N: Sorry it's short :(

_Young Volcanoes_ by Fall Out Boy

Potions was just a touch awkward.

"...did he apologize yet?"

I looked up from my almost-finished, one and a half foot long, nearly perfect Potions essay. Regulus wasn't looking directly at me, but was leaned back in his chair with his eyes closed.

"No, and it's his business. As of now I'm done with him, I guess," I muttered. With a flourish, I dotted my last 'i' and crossed my last 't' in the last sentence of my kick arse conclusion paragraph.

"Yes," I whispered. I almost kissed my parchment. I got up to hand it in, but my hip bumped into the table and spilled a rather pungent gunk on the front of Regulus's pants. He opened his eyes, then promptly shut them in frustration.

"Oh, fuck me..." he grumbled, using the edge of his robes to dab it up.

_If you weren't Sirius Black's brother, maybe_. I don't about you, but the fact that he knew to dab and not rub like a maniac like most boys would, made him, oddly enough, slightly more attractive.

"...what?"

_OH MERLIN, HAD I SAID THAT? OUT LOUD?!_ "What?"

He shook his head, slightly puzzled. "Did you say something? It was quiet so it was sort of mumbled, but is it important?"

This time, I was careful to make my relieved sigh not so loud. "No. No, it was nothing."

* * *

><p>At lunch, I decided to tell Leila what had happened yesterday.<p>

She was beyond angry. It was a good thing I had I completely 'forgot' the part about Regulus.

It was a good thing I was sitting with the Ravenclaws then, so as to avoid the judgement of my Housemates. Also so that the Ravenclaws would be able to report my death to McGonagall as soon as possible.

"You idiot," she hissed at me. "You never tell me anything anymore! And now this! Really?"

"I'm sorry," I mumbled through a mouthful of food: it sounded more like "Um awree."

Leila sighed. "After all the things I've told you..." She glanced at me trying to do my puppy-dog eyed face. I know it worked when she sighed again and gave me a small smile. "I...I know you're sorry. It's okay. We just need to work on communication skills, alright?"

"God, you two sound like _you're_ the ones in a relationship," James said. He had come over from who knows where and was resting half of his full weight through his right arm and onto my left shoulder. I yanked my shoulder forward and he fell.

"Bitch," he muttered, dusting the dirt off from his shirt. The Ravenclaws around me chuckled and tittered, some girls and I swear one guy eyeing James appreciatively. Finally composed and ready to seek revenge, he wrapped the end of my long ponytail around his hand and tugged it affectionately. I pretended injury.

"Ouch, James, you know I'm not into that," I teased. Leila snorted and James tugged my ponytail again.

"But what if _I_ am?" he answered back, wiggling his eyebrows. I rolled my eyes.

"Well experiment with Lily, then!"

He blushed pink and finally let go of my hair. "I actually came over here so we could talk about the thing we're planning..."

I shot Leila an apologetic look. "Leils, I gotta go...this is important."

She shrugged. "Alright, see ya, Georgie."

I walked back to the Gryffindor table with James, and thankfully only Remus and Peter were waiting for us there. Remus reached for my hand and gave it a squeeze.

"I think it's nice of you to be planning this party for Sirius, Georgie," Peter commented. I smiled at him in thanks.

Remus pulled out the party lists from the inside of his robes. "Alright, so we've got drinks, food, and music covered. The only thing we need now are party invites and a place."

He continued. "Georgie can make one invitation because she has the best handwriting, and I know how to perform the Gemini spell. Good."

I slowly smiled as I remembered that hidden room from the other day.

"Remus, I think I have a place in mind..."

* * *

><p>"You're an absolute <em>loon<em>," James laughed as we entered that same room in which I had literally slept with Regulus. It looked a little different, now; the walls were covered in glass mirrors and there were two, lit fireplaces going on both ends of the room. "How'd you find this place?"

I thought for a minute. "I found it after Hogsmeade. I was thinking of a place where I could be alone, and this room appeared."

"The Room of Requirement."

My head turned to look at Remus, who had spoken.

"What?" James asked.

"The Room of Requirement," Remus repeated, a grin slowly spreading across his face. "It appeared when someone needed it. It's perfect. It's not mentioned in any of the Hogwarts textbooks, so that's what we'll call it on the invitations. The Room of Requirement."

"But how will people know how to get to it?" Peter interjected. Remus grinned even wider.

"Georgie'll write which corridor and which wing with the question, 'Where's the party?' The Room will know."

"This is amazing," James muttered, continuing to walk around the room and inspecting it. I glowed.

Suddenly, I remembered something very, very important.

"Hey, Rem? Do you know anyone named Leila? Leila Kaplan?"


	18. One Night

_One Night_ by Matthew Koma

"And..._done_!"

I was in the Common Room and I was finished. I smiled proudly at the stiff, square piece of parchment that I had enchanted to flash gold and red. I thought it was rather pretty; a lion with its mouth open in a ferocious roar proudly announced Sirius's fifteenth, and '_Just ask, 'Where's the party?' in the second floor, Charms corridor on October 23rd_*' was written in my calligraphic writing. Underneath it was the phrase, '_Fifth years and up only! Must show proof of invitation_'.

"Done with what?"

_Oh, f-_

"A party?!" Lily was stage whispering angrily. "Georgie, you're a _Prefect_!"

Oh, yeah. I was. "But, Lily-"

"Don't 'But Lily' me!" she mocked. "This is so irresponsible of you, G. I can't believe you're abusing power like this...I'm starting to think that Dumbledore made a mistake in making you a prefect..."

I turned to her, hurt; her words stung so much I'd rather she slap me.

"You say that as if you would have used Prefect power perfectly and responsibly, Lily Evans," I snapped. "Never mind that you'd take away half our House points if James Potter so much as looked in your direction-"

"Because _you're_ doing such a great job as a Prefect now," she shot back sarcastically. "I swear, you're an absolute mess. You forget you're a Prefect half the time, and the other half you're with Potter and his lot. I know you're on the Quidditch team, but you spend an awful lot of time with Potter it's almost inappropriate-"

She stopped because I had thrown my quill and smashed my ink bottle on the ground to shut her up. The glass shards of the bottle crunched underneath my shoes as I shifted, and the ink stained the wood floor, the rug, and my legs.

"You know, I always thought you were my friend, Lily Evans. Not my best friend, but a friend. We share the same dorm, we have always had a few of the same classes, and occasionally, we'd help each other out if we had problems. I guess I was wrong though, because now I can finally see how much of a hypocrite you are," I said. "You're pretentious, and you think so highly of yourself. According to you, everyone is basically beneath Princess Lily. Now you're calling me a slag when you know fully well that that's unfair and disrespectful of you to say. I have no idea what James sees in you; you could live a hundred lives and never deserve the adoration that boy gives you."

I was breathing heavily again, like my row with...Black. Lily's lips had become a straight line, and her eyes were clear and hard, like glass.

"He's a prat, yes, but that's because he's not perfect. I'm not perfect. What you don't seem to get though, Lily Evans, is that _you're_ not perfect."

I shut my eyes and let out a short, heavy sigh to end my rant. It was rather quiet; I had actually expected her to shout or yell or even hit me, but she just stood there. After awhile and I had deemed it safe, I peeked out of one eye to check if the ink from my bottle had seeped into the rug. It had.

"_Tergeo_," I muttered with a quick flick of my wand. The stain in the red carpet gradually lightened until a mere shadow of a splotch remained.

"If you'll excuse me, Evans, I have to give something to a good friend," I said curtly. I purposely pushed past her to get to the boys' dorms, and heard nothing as I ascended up the steps.

* * *

><p>When I arrived at the fifth year boys' dorms, I knocked three times respectfully to let the boys know I was coming in. The door unlocked immediately, and I entered, invitation in hand behind my back. I wanted to surprise them.<p>

"Mate, I'd really hate to be the one who'd just put Evans in her place down in the Common Room," Sirius was saying. He was smiling, had just come out of the shower, and was holding a shirt in his hand. For a nanosecond, I completely forgot that I was upset with him and indulged in his cliché, muscular gorgeousness.

Merlin, he was beautiful...

"Georgie!" Remus announced with a nervous laugh, bringing me back to my senses. I blinked, and attempted what I assumed was a warm smile. Sirius noticed me and stopped smiling, but didn't put on his shirt. Instead, he just sat on his bed. I made it a point to ignore him and hoped he hadn't caught me staring at him; I guess he hadn't, because I could feel his eyes boring into my back as I approached Remus.

"I did the thing," I told him, and quickly handed him the finished invitation. He gave it a quick once over, then smiled.

"This is beautiful. James and I'll take care of distribution and set up later," he whispered. As an afterthought, he added, "Sirius really doesn't deserve this from you, so remind me to kick his arse later."

I chuckled. "Love you two."

Remus smiled again; this time, the skin around his eyes crinkled. He looked absolutely adorable, and I could see why Leila had fancied him for so long.

"We love you, too," Remus answered.

* * *

><p>Later that night, I had returned to my own dorms and was shuffling through my vinyls when I found an old one from last year. It was one of five Muggle records I owned, and the one I just found was by a paticularly brilliant (mostly because he was English) Muggle named Elton John, I think. This LP had the song 'Bennie and the Jets' that I adored. I put it on and half hummed, half mumbled the lyrics.<p>

"Oh Bennie she's really keen/She's got electric boots, a mohair suit/You know I read it in a magaziiiiiiiine..." I played the air guitar's solo as I sang, slowly sliding into a split. Of course, it was then that I decided to look at my doorway and saw my roommates staring at me.

To be completely honest, I had always known I was a little bit of a freak, even compared to them.

"B-b-b-bennie and the Jets..." sang Marlene Paige, a slow grin spreading across her face. She bobbed her head up and down and held up her right hand index finger, and pinkie. Behind Marlene was Alice McCormick, who giggled and sang along with it.

"What on _Earth_ is that ruckus? It's almost eight at night and-"

She-Devil Evans herself walked in, followed by Jardin Hughes, one of the few Gryffindor girls whom I was actually close with. I could tell she was enjoying the tune, because her green eyes sparkled at the music; Lily's green eyes sparkled at the thought of throttling whoever it was that was playing the music. I laughed as I noted she tried her best not to look directly at me

Marlene playfully threw a candlestick from her bedside at Lily. "You need to _lighten_ up!"

This, of course, made Lily angry. In retaliation, she threw a pillow at Marlene. It missed and hit Alice instead.

Lily had unintentionally started a full-on pillow fight.

As she, Marlene, and Alice laughed and giggled together, Jardin sat on her bed and smiled warmly at me.

"Lily was whinging to me about what you said," she said softly. I rolled my eyes, but Jardin laughed. "I personally agree with you; if James Potter was after me like that, I think I'd be pretty set."

I snorted. "Considering how much you liked him in second year I'd think-"

Jardin smacked me across the face with her pillow.

"Take that, Georgie!"

I hit her back with the same pillow.

"Up _yours_, Hughes!"

* * *

><p>AN: Sirius's birthday isn't really the 23rd of October; it's an approximation. It's never stated specifically in canon, but the HarryPotterWiki says that it's somewhere in late autumn. Read and review, lovelies! :)


	19. Paparazzi

Paparazzi by Lady GaGa

It had been a few days and Lily and I still weren't talking, but that was fine. Like Sirius said, I had basically put Lily in her place and she didn't respond well to it. Miss Perfect didn't like being told she was anything and everything but.

No matter. Today was Friday, October 23rd, the day of the party, and _boy_, was I ready for it.

* * *

><p>Despite having obtained the lists of Sirius's favorites, found a venue and made the invitation, James and Remus were the ones who had really organized getting everything together. They had gathered food, beverages, music, and handed out the invitations to people. Of course, that meant I had no control of who they invited.<p>

I went down to breakfast and saw that the Great Hall was buzzing with excitement. The party was the only thing people wanted to talk about, whether you were invited or not. I had hoped that the boys had the decency to invite my best friend, and by the look on Leila's face, they did not disappoint.

"I can _so_ tell this is your handwriting," Leila smirked as she examined her invitation. "Why didn't you tell me? And why'd you do it, considering you and Sirius had a falling out?"

"A 'falling out' implies that two people were friends," I told her. "Sirius and I weren't friends in the first place. Besides, I couldn't tell you anyway; it was a surprise."

She nodded, not really listening, then excitedly began to ask me what she should wear, what she should get him. I told her to wear any clothes she found comfortable because there would be dancing, and that she should get Sirius some manners. Leila laughed then, but I was being completely serious.

She left me to catch up with her Housemates, so I was left alone to eat my yogurt and granola. I just sat there, crunching on it so hard it was deafening, that I didn't notice Regulus slide into the seat across from me. It was a good thing that I had been too lazy to get up from the Ravenclaw table; if I hadn't, I wasn't sure how large that Gryffindor fight would be.

"Hullo, Georgie," Regulus said softly with a small smile. I looked up and stopped chewing.

"'I Wegu'us," I answered. I winced at my own disgustingness when a dribble of chewed up oats and yogurt dripped out of my mouth. Regulus's stifled laugh did nothing to make me less embarrassed as I quickly wiped up the offending food.

"I just wanted to say thanks for letting me plan Sirius's birthday," he muttered, quiet enough so only I could hear. I swallowed.

"No. Thank you for getting everything together." As an afterthought, I added, "I would invite you, but-"

"Yeah. I know," he sighed, genuinely sad, "the whole Sirius hating me because I'm a pureblood supremacist thing, not to mention the riot that would ensue because of a Slytherin appearing at a Gryffindor party."

My stomach fell through the floor at his casualness. "Are you really?"

"Really what?" he frowned.

"A pureblood supremacist?"

I was blessed enough by God (I believe in Him, even if Muggle clergy say magic is Satan's work, so don't laugh) to have been given the chance to be born to a hardworking witch and wizard pair who just so happened to be pureblood. I was safe. But my other friends weren't, like Leila, who was a halfblood, or Jardin, who was Muggleborn. His nonchalant manner about his comment brought back the cold reality that this was Regulus Black, heir to the Black family fortune with psychotic, extremist family members whose family motto was '_Toujours pur_'; always pure. Like jeez, how obnoxious can you be about it?

"I don't know...but for you, I'll be anything," he said huskily. He winked, too, and my hand immediately went to my mouth to cover my embarrassed smile. I could feel the blush creeping up my neck when I got up to leave.

"Um...alright...well," I stammered, "I guess I'll see you 'round?"

Embarassment of his own flashed on his face. It wasn't long before he was pink, too, when what he had just done finally dawned on him.

"Er-yeah. Sorry. See you, Georgie."

I returned to my own House table. It was evident that Remus had been watching Regulus and I, because he had looked back and forth between us warily as I drew closer and Regulus walked further and further away.

"Alright, Georgie?" he asked. I nodded. He stared at me a moment before returning to his eggs and toast, deep in thought.

* * *

><p>Classes seemed to go past in a blur, but that may or may not have been because we all had a party to look forward to. Students who were close enough to either of the four boys gave each other secretive, glances, while others who hadn't been privy to any information were envious and slightly incensed.<p>

"I don't get what the big deal is, anyway," I heard Lily mutter to the Hufflepuff next to her in Herbology. Lily had found her own invitation underneath her pillow earlier this morning and assumed I put it there, but when she had asked through Marlene, I could only give her a no. I myself had no idea about who had placed her invitation in that particular place, but I smiled. The boys were so clever it was maddening.

"It's still cool that you got invited," the Hufflepuff murmured, concentrating on the growling Fanged Geranium in front of her. "I think you should go, Lily."

"Why?" Lily asked. Her tone was more curious than anything, even though she tried to sound as clipped as the dead bud on her Fanged Geranium. "And give Potter the satisfaction of seeing me having fun at a party that he and his..._other_ friends planned?" She glanced over at me with a caring-too-much-to-be-genuinely-indifferent expression. I blinked and returned to my own Fanged Geranium, which was currently trying to chew up my notes. Irritated, I bopped it on the head.

"Miss Paredes! _Please_ watch yourself around the geranium!" Professor Sprout shouted.

* * *

><p>"Oh, this is so exciting!" Alice squealed later that night. She had dressed in a modest and beautiful printed dress with point-toed ballet flats. She had put up her hair in a back braided updo and was smiling at Lily. Lily looked equally as pretty, with a maroon lace dress and black platforms. She was fussing with her unruly hair.<p>

"Quit doing that, it looks fine," Marlene quipped, clip-clopping into the room in a pretty, pastel flower-printed dress and nude heels. Her own hair was up in an extravagant braid courtesy of Jardin, who had left earlier wearing a similarly patterned floral dress and green ballet flats.

Me? I was in Muggle jeans.

"Are you sure you don't want to borrow a dress of mine?" Marlene asked, scrutinizing my outfit with a wrinkled nose. I stuck my tongue out at her.

"I'll be dancing. I'm good with my blouse and jeans, but thank you," I told her. I rather liked my Muggle jeans and blouse. The blouse was my mother's, and on her it had been conservative and professional...when _she_ had been fifteen. On me, it was a different story. Though the same height, my mother had always been much more slender than me, so the blouse was more than a little bit (aka inappropriately) open and the hem of the shirt came an inch or two above my navel. My jeans were fine, though. And my shoes were comfortable wedges I had bought at Harrods this summer; I was pleased to have found an excuse to finally wear them.

"Alright, everyone, let's go!" Marlene announced with a smile. She smacked Lily's hands away from her red hair saying, "It looks fine."

I grabbed my gift for Sirius, who I had begrudgingly decided to forgive. I also found it rather rude when someone went to a party, no matter how casual, without a gift for the celebrant. Out the door I followed the herd of made-up, fresh-smelling Gryffindor models I called my dormmates.

* * *

><p>We arrived at the the second floor Charms corridor and Lily was already impatient.<p>

"Where's the party," she repeated flatly as she read her invitation. She looked up expectantly.

"Do you even know where we're supposed to go, Lily?" Marlene asked. Lily shot her a glare so scathing Marlene looked away so quickly it was as if she had actually been burned.

"You don't verbally and actually ask," I said. "You think it. Watch."

I closed my eyes and wordlessly asked, _Where's the party?_

As expected, there was a sound of stone being moved across stone. I opened my eyes to hear the other girls' gasps and see their astonished faces when the Room of Requirement door appeared.

I stepped forward to open it for them. Once the door was open, music and the sound of laughter and chatter spilled out into the hallway.

We all filed inside, but what I saw couldn't have surprised me more.

The mirrored walls and fireplace were left alone, but the ceiling had been turned red and the floor gold. Elegant mahogany tables were stacked neatly with food, closed Butterbeer bottles, and a large gold punch bowl filled with blood red juice. There were many people already talking and eating, but here was a large expanse of sparkling gold floor space that was empty. I realized it was because it was a _dance floor_ when I saw the giant record player up on a pedestal. A soft Pink Floyd song played quietly out of the conical speaker. My eyes traveled up and saw five thrones: Peter, Remus, Sirius, and James sat in that order. James saw me and the other girls and raised his Butterbeer bottle to us.

"Welcome to Sirius's fifteenth!"


	20. Goodbye Stranger

A/N: OMG, it's been eons and I gave you a short chapter! I'm so so so so SO sorry! There's just been a lot of stuff going on, but they're finally at the party! Yay! This isn't the only party chapter, though, so hang tight and enjoy!

_Goodbye Stranger_ by Supertramp

James squinted as I and the others approached; in order to get a better look, he hopped off from his throne and ran towards us. He grinned widely as he saw who we were more closely.

"Georgie!" James said happily, slurring a bit as he threw an arm around me. He pulled me close to him and I could suddenly smell something on his breath that was most definitely not butterbeer. He spotted the heavy leather jacket in my arms and eyed it curiously.

"What's this?" he asked, but in his obviously inebriated state sounded more like "Wa dish?"

"Sirius's gift," I told him quietly. He furrowed his eyebrows. "Gif? Why? You planned the parteeee! That's enuff ova gif!"

James said this much too loudly for anyone not to hear it. I groaned as I saw Lily narrow her eyes at me. However, she was the only one to find this out, as the other girls had separated to talk and/or eat.

"Shush, you git," I hissed. "Now give it to him before-"

"Is that true?"

_Fuck_. I hated his voice. "Heeeyyyy Shirius, you dog you!"

I really wish James would learn to hold his drink.

Sirius had walked up to the two of us, unannounced. I avoided looking directly at his face and settled on his trainers. "Hullo, Sirius."

I couldn't see his face, but he probably looked beyond confused. "Is that true?" he repeated. "That you planned this?"

I snuck a peek through my eyelashes and saw his wide-eyed, surprised expression. His gray eyes were soft, not at all hard like the first time I'd met him.

"Yeah," I answered curtly. "What's it to you? Does it matter?"

He shook his head, even allowed the left side (my right) of his mouth turn up in a half-smile.

"Not really. I knew it had you-a _female's_ touch to it; it seemed a little too organized for this lot," he gestured to James, "to have figured everything out in a timely manner."

He had said this lightly, with his irritatingly charming half-smile. It was a way to rouse a smile out of me, and unfortunately for him, it wasn't going to work. I blinked.

"Georgieeee hazzz a gif for yoouuu, Shirius!" James announced, throwing the leather jacket at him unceremoniously. Sirius caught it and looked perplexed. Impressed with the quality. he slipped it on. Though it would never reach his ears, I thought that I was glad it fit well, on both his person and his personality.

"You didn't have to get me anything," he said softly, dropping the attempt at getting me to smile at him completely. I shrugged.

"One should always have a gift for the celebrant," I responded, looking at my feet sheepishly.

"Dat's shoooooo deep of you, Georgie! You're shooo shmart!" James grinned, bending a bit to give me a kiss on the mouth. He managed to slip his tongue inside before I shoved him away, embarrassed. I wiped away the saliva when I realized I didn't taste alcohol on his breath; I just smelled it. I yanked him towards me again.

"You're not even drunk, are you, you wanker," I whispered, no need for questioning because I knew my answer. Being the cheeky bastard he was, James straightened to run his free hand through his hair and winked.

"When close mates are Prefects? 'Course not," he smiled mischievously, his articulation clear and precise. I punched him in the stomach lightly, and he feigned hurt. He leaned down again to whisper to me.

"Just thought my 'drunkenness' would get you two at peace again, though. Worked, didn't it?"

I opened my mouth to protest before he announced, loudly again, that he needed to use the loo. He left Sirius and I alone, but not without winking conspiratorially again. I stuck my tongue out at him.

"Georgie?"

I looked up and saw that Sirius had gotten closer to me. Instinctively I stepped back.

"Hmm?"

"I'm really, really sorry."

_Wait, what?_

"Come again?"

He sighed. "I-I'm sorry. Really. I was way too forward and I had the wrong idea and I completely forgot about how I had treated you before, and I'm just...sorry."

I blinked at him, and allowed a small smile. I was glad I had reduced Sirius Black, a pig of a person, really, to actually say sorry.

"Apology accepted," I said. He broke into a bright grin with his teeth showing and eyes lit up like the room.

"I think we should start over, Georgie. I really have to work on the 'being friends' thing."

He paused, then stuck out his hand. "I'm Sirius. How you doin'?"

I rolled my eyes. "I'm Georgie. And also leaving."

He pouted. "No you're not!" Sirius grabbed my wrist as I turned away from him; he pulled me back towards him so that I was up against his chest. His eyes glittered with mischief.

"You look fantastic," he commented, surprisingly looking more at my face than at my blouse.

"Thanks, Sirius," I said. I inhaled deeply, finally able to relax, and noticed he smelled nice. Spicy, but also cold and refreshing.

_Hang on..._


End file.
